Puppy Love
by HikarisDream
Summary: Puppies are a reflection of unconditional love, entrusted to us like precious seeds. We water them with praise, patience, and love, and watch them grow into full bloom. - and maybe Victor will be able to do the same for Yuuri. - Or in which a fateful car accident has Victor meet a shy, but gentle vet, who might not only save his beloved Makkachin, but also Victor himself.
1. In the Blink of an Eye

**Hey mina!**

 **I know , I know what some of you must be thinking… shouldn't she write her other stories? And yes, I should… buuuuuuut the idea for this just hit me like a rock and I had to write it down. I won't try to predict how long the story is gonna be, but not at long as my other stuff I think. The other chapters are also in progression already and will probably be up soon (for those you are waiting for them anyway XD)**

 **So, what is this exactly? It's a vet-AU! With a sick (but soon well again) puppy and a worried Victor who might or might not develop a crush in Makkachin's vet, one Katsuki Yuuri! Prepare for a little bit of angst and a lot of 'falling-in-love-fluff' ;)**

 **If you have any questions or things you want to tell me, just come and find me on tumblr - hikarisdream! Love you all!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yuuri! on Ice All characters belong to MAPPA and Mitsurō Kubo**

* * *

 _ **Puppy Love**_

 **Chapter 1 In The Blink of an Eye**

It all happens so fast. No more than a heartbeat could have passed. One second Makkachin is right beside him, the next, there is an excruciating yelp and the squeaking sound of car brakes. Time freezes before Victor's eyes as he watches the car slow down, but not fast enough. He darts forward, the leash useless in his right hand, only to be held back by someone (it must be Yakov) gripping him by his shirt.

The crash is inevitable, Victor knows it the moment he spots the car approaching, not with Makkachin having broken loose from his leash and running straight across the street, chasing something Victor never saw. He has never done something like that before. Makkachin is well behaved, gentle and calm. But today…

Today something has riled him up and made him dart right in front of the car. The car that is too slow to come to a hold before it hits the big brown poodle. And Makkachin's yelp of pain and suffering fills the air, makes Victor's blood run cold and fuels an unknown panic in his heart.

It's terrible. The worst feeling in the world. To know what's going to happen, but to be unable to prevent it at the same time. To be confined to watch while a loved one gets hurt. It shatters something inside Victor, leaves him stunned and weak and shaking from head to toe.

He has never been so scared in his life.

Finally, he breaks loose from the grip holding him back and runs after his dog, eyes fixed on nothing but Makkachin. Makkachin who has been with him for so many years. His sole companion in a lonely world of competitive sport. His anchor when Victor felt like drowning. Makkachin, who is now lying halfway under the car, his lower half crashed by the wheel but who still raises his head once he sees his daddy rush towards him.

His dark, gentle eyes look at Victor, pleading for him to take the pain away. It breaks Victor's heart. There's nothing he can do. Makkachin is in pain, but Victor can't help him. Can't take away his suffering. God, he feels useless.

A soft, pained whine escapes the dog while Victor falls to his knees, reaching for his beloved pet with trembling hands. He doesn't know what to do. He is fucking twenty-seven years old and he doesn't know what to do. His dog is in pain and Victor has no idea how to help him. He can already feel the tears burn in his eyes. What good is he, if he can't even protect Makkachin?

His innocent, gentle dog, who trusts Victor beyond anything. It hurts to disappoint him. To sit there on the warm pavement, with the afternoon sun shining down on them, and not be able to _help_.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!", a voice cries, female and panicked, but to Victor she sounds as if talking through cotton, her voice so muffled that it barely reaches his mind. He is too focused on his pet. And his own inability to make the situation better. "I was… my kids… I was distracted… I didn't see him. I'm so sorry". The words are broken when they fall from her lips, and the meaning never really gets through to Victor. For him, it's just sound that doesn't make sense.

All he can think about is Makkachin.

Makkachin who whines again so miserably that it breaks Victor's heart a second time.

"Vitya!", a voice calls, finally shaking him from his stupor. He looks up. Yakov is standing above him, and the unknown woman – the woman who hurt his Makkachin – is kneeling beside him, looking just as panicked as Victor does. She must be a good person, because it's obvious how much she regrets what happened. Good people always love pets, don't they?

"Vitya, we need to get him to a vet", Yakov says, his voice stern, as stern as always, but he isn't yelling. Just for once, he isn't yelling at Victor. Just… helping? Victor doesn't know. It's all too blurred for him to understand. The one dominating thought in his mind is that he didn't protect his only friend.

"I know but… He's stuck… The wheel… It's still…", he can't keep talking, his voice breaks, the tears are now running down his cheeks, leaving wet marks on their path. Speaking makes it all real and brings with it the possibility that Makkachin might not survive this.

"My… husband", the woman beside him stammers and jumps to her feet as if struck by lightning. "My husband always keeps a car jack in the trunk. Says you never know when you'll need it". Her pale hands run through now messy auburn hair, tied back in ponytail. A few loose strands fall into her face, which is twisted with worry. Victor looks up from his dog to the woman and then to Yakov, who is nodding approvingly.

Together they run around the car, while Victor stays with Makkachin. He can't leave him. Can't leave his pet in a moment of pain and fear. He knows that Makkachin needs him, needs to be sure that his daddy won't abandon him in this moment of utter vulnerability.

Victor closes his eyes to compose himself. His hands are still shaking and he's scared beyond words, but he knows Makkachin needs him. He must stay strong for his only friend in the world. The big brown fluffy poodle who has seen him at his best and at his worst.

Victor doesn't know how many nights he's cried into Makkachin's fur when he felt alone and forgotten. So many miles away from his family, often forced to sleep in empty hotel rooms in countries he had never been to before. When you're just sixteen, the world is a scary place and a fluffy friend can make all the difference. He did for Victor at least.

Hands still trembling, Victor reaches out for Makkachin's head and timidly pets him. Makkachin must sense his fear, because he whines again softly and Victor finally speaks to his friend. "It's alright, baby boy. We're going to help you. You'll be all better soon", he explains, his voice soft and low. He has no idea how bad Makkachin's condition really is, but he can't bring himself to think about any other possibility but for his dog to get well soon.

A few minutes later, the young woman and Yakov reappear with the car jack. "We'll press the car up with this and as soon as the wheel is high enough in the air, you'll pull him free, alright?", she suggests, her brown eyes slightly red from tears she's obviously holding back.

Victor feels sorry for her.

She might have hit Makkachin, but she is unmistakably feeling guilty about it. And she hasn't done it on purpose of course.

Victor nods in agreement, hands still in Makkachin's fur, while Yakov and the woman get to work.

The car jack works slowly, but by now a few passers-by have noticed the commotion going on the usually barely frequented street and some of them even come over to help by pulling on the car to press it up faster.

Voices muffle together above Victor's head; people coordinating a slow and steady rise of the car, as to not hurt Makkachin further by putting pressure on the dog again. Some of them even speculate about the injuries he might have sustained, but Victor just tunes them out. It's a little like googling your headache that always turns out to be brain cancer – people always assume the worst.

And Victor really doesn't want to hear about putting Makkachin down.

But despite the speculation, Victor is grateful to all of their helpers. He has no strength left in his bones to say so, but he is. Only he needs to focus on Makkachin right now. His dog is still in pain, and lifting the pressure of the wheel might give them the chance to free the big fluffy puppy, but it also inflicts new pain. So Victor keeps rubbing his ears gently. That always soothes him. His ears are his special spot to scratch.

After what feels like a small eternity the wheel is finally high enough in the air for them to free Makkachin and Yakov gets on his knees next to Victor. He can't lift the dog on his own. Not without hurting him again. And they still have no idea how bad the injury of his hind legs actually is.

"Slowly…", Yakov mutters, partly to himself and partly to Victor, who is still shaking like mad. Makkachin whines and yelps and trembles as they slowly free him and then there is blood and broken bones. It's bad. So bad Victor thinks he might puke right then and there as Yakov gently pushes the injured dog into Victor's arms.

 _He is broken_ , is all he can think. His beloved pet, shattered and in pain beyond believe. People are still standing around him and as grateful as Victor feels to them, he now wishes them all gone. He still doesn't know what to do. Of course, he has to get Makkachin to the vet, but he's in Japan, in a foreign country and he doesn't know how to find a vet here. He doesn't even have a car to take Makkachin there.

But suddenly the young woman is back. She has set her car back down and is now standing in front of Victor, eyes still wide with guilt and worry. "My… best friend… He's a vet… a good one. Loves dogs… I can take you to him…", she says. It's only now that Victor realizes how thick her accent is. There are vowels in her English where the English language usually doesn't have vowels. It sounds almost a bit funny. But Victor isn't in the mood to laugh. All he can do is nod and get into the car, with his still whining and bleeding dog pressed against his chest.

Yakov tells him to meet him back at the hotel once Makkachin is taken care of, but Victor can't remember if he even agreed to that or just ignored it.

When he gets into the car, he notices the three children on the back seat. He glances at them through the rear-view mirror. Triplets obviously. Girls. As alike as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, with their brown hair and round faces. They even wear the same clothes, just in different colour sets. Victor doesn't know if they're aware of what has happened, but maybe not knowing would be for the best. Children react even more sensitive to hurt pets than adults and Victor already feels like he's been hit by a truck.

A few seconds later their mother enters the car on the other side (which still is a little strange for Victor because traffic is the other way around in Russia, and driving on the left side always leaves him a little nervous – it doesn't go well with his senses). She casts a quick glance at Makkachin, who is curled into a ball, his hind legs hanging uselessly in Victor's lap.

Her face falls and she starts the engine. "Don't worry. My friend will help him", she declares, her voice like steel when she hits the accelerator and gets the car moving. A few words in Japanese follow, probably meant for her kids, because they answer with the same sharp sounds, although their voices are a little timid. For a split second, Victor wonders what their mother has told them, but then Makkachin lets out a whine again and Victor leans down to bury his nose in soft fur.

They are driving too fast. Victor knows it. But he can't bring himself to care; wants Makkachin to get to the vet as fast as possible and if that means violating a few traffic rules, then so be it. Victor can live with it.

Far worse though are Makkachin's whines and yelps every time the car turns around a corner or goes over a bump in the pavement.

"I'm so sorry", the woman murmurs. "So, so sorry…". The words are a constant stream of apologies muttered in heavy accented English. Victor appreciates it, even if he again doesn't reply to anything. His lips are still pressed against Makkachin's head and he's started to mumble soothing words in Russian, low and warm to make his dog feel safe and take away his fear.

Blood is slowly seeping through his white cotton shirt and dark slacks. Makkachin's blood. But Victor tries not to think about it. He doesn't want to know what losing so much blood must mean. The possibility that Makkachin might not survive this just doesn't exist in his mind.

He doesn't know how long it takes for them to reach the animal hospital, but by the time they arrive, Victor's clothes are soaked in warm blood and he wants nothing more than to get out of the car and have his dog finally treated by caring hands.

The young woman turns in her seat, briefly talking to her children, before turning back to Victor. "Let's go. You carry your dog, and I will do the talking, okay?", she says, her eyes travelling over the shaking bundle in Victor's arms. Makkachin is not in a good state right now.

Victor just nods and awkwardly opens the car door with one hand, the other curled tightly around his puppy to hold him in a steady embrace. It's not exactly easy to get out of the car like this, but he somehow manages and follows the young mother across the parking lot.

It's not far, and Victor usually has good stamina, but by the time they burst through the front doors, he's panting and out of breath, as if he'd just skated his technically demanding free program. Makkachin's wet nose is pressed against Victor's neck and his large front paws rest on tense shoulders. Soft whines escape the little bundle and his breathing is too shallow and too ragged.

There's a girl sitting at the counter by the entrance and Victor's companion wastes no time, practically running towards her and pointing at Victor while she talks to the girl in rapid Japanese, explaining what has happened. The girl looks first at Victor than at Makkachin and just nods, her face grave and dark, before she rushes through a glass door behind the counter.

"She's gonna fetch Yuuri for us. That's my friend. He will help him", the young woman explains once she returns to Victor's side to wait with him. It's a good thing she is here with him. Victor's Japanese is by no means good enough to explain the whole situation to a vet who probably doesn't speak a word of English.

"Thank you", Victor finally says, because he really is grateful to her. She might have hit his dog, but now she's doing whatever she can to help. Not only Makkachin, but Victor as well.

"Nothing to thank me for. I hurt your dog… it's the least I can do. I'm Yuuko, by the way. Nishigori Yuuko", she says extending a hand to Victor that he awkwardly shakes, because he needs both his arms to balance Makkachin.

"Victor Nikiforov", he replies and tries for a smile that doesn't properly stick to his lips. He is too tense, to riled up and scared to smile. But Yuuko only nods with a slightly lopsided smile that Victor can't interpret. Maybe it's a Japanese thing. Or a woman-thing. Victor has never been exactly good with women.

The glass door opens again and the girl from the counter reappears, followed by a man clad all in white. He's almost running towards them and only stops a few inches away from Victor, eyes glued to Makkachin.

"Yuuri-kun", Yuuko says. It's the only thing Victor understands before they talk to each other in Japanese again and Victor can do nothing but wait for Yuuko to explain what happened, while the doctor, whose name is obviously Yuuri-kun, motions for Victor to follow him.

They enter a treatment room, white and sterile and everything Victor's nightmares are made of, with tiles on the walls and too bright lamps on the ceiling. Victor shivers. He doesn't want to leave Makkachin here, but he knows that it's the only way.

A few nurses follow them and start working on Makkachin the second Victor sets him down on the metal table in the middle of the room. Finally Yuuko stops talking and the doctor, his name tag says he's called Dr. Katsuki, turns towards Victor with the tiniest of smiles on his lips.

It's the first time Victor actually looks at him properly, now that he doesn't carry Makkachin anymore, and his heart does a little jump. Katsuki Yuuri must be the gentlest person on the planet, at least judging by his large, kind, brown eyes hidden under long dark lashes and his slightly round cheeks. He has black hair, a little messy maybe, and the soft strands fall into his face. Blue glasses sit on the bridge of his nose, framing his beautiful eyes. He looks cute, endearing really.

Victor isn't surprised that the man is a vet.

Halfway through parting his lips to ask Yuuko what would happen to Makkachin now, Dr. Katsuki starts to speak – not in Japanese, but in smooth almost accent free English, while extending a hand towards Victor.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Katsuki. You must be Mr. Nikiforov?", he says, his smiles widening, making Victor's breath hitch. How can he not trust a man with a smile like that? And a voice warm like molten chocolate? He feels so safe here.

"You… you speak English?", Victor mutters, not answering the question as he is still too surprised by this man, who is a few inches shorter than Victor and must look up to him through those beautiful lashes.

Dr. Katsuki's cheeks bleed a little pink as he blushes slightly, white teeth sinking into soft lips. He's a little shy, Victor concludes, but it makes the other man just even more charming. "Ah, yes I do. It's not that common in Japan, you're right. But I can explain to you what is going to happen from now on", he says with another smile. There's no pity in his voice, just gentle understanding. Victor is probably not the first person with an injured dog to walk into the clinic.

"Thank you", Victor breathes, because he really isn't sure if Yuuko's English would have been good enough to explain what is going to happen to poor Makkachin now.

Dr. Katsuki nods at him, and half turns to face not only Victor but Makkachin as well. The big brown poodle lies on top of the examination table, still bleeding and looking more miserable than Victor has ever seen him. "My assistants will narcotize him now, to stop his suffering for the time being. A thorough examination wouldn't be possible as long as he is in so much pain. Yuuko already told me that she got him with a front wheel. I won't go into detail what pressure does to bones, but surgery is inevitable. I guess you already know that?".

His voice is calm and even though the topic he talks about is as unpleasant as it can get, he somehow manages to sooth Victor's nerves a little. Somehow he just knows that this guy will do everything he can to save Makkachin. There's something in his eyes, something that Victor can't exactly pinpoint, but it's been there ever since Dr. Katsuki first laid eyes on Makkachin. And it speaks of love and affection.

"Yeah, I already thought so. Is he… will he be okay?", Victor asks, anxiety bubbling up in his throat. There's a great difference between 'surviving' and 'living'. He wants Makkachin to live and fully recover. Not to be unable to walk for the rest of his life. His dog might already be a grandpa but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be allowed to live a life worth living.

Dr. Katsuki licks his lips and averts his eyes for a second. It's obvious that he doesn't want to give Victor bad news, but he also doesn't want to lie to him. "At this point", he begins, and the smile turns a little sad: "there's no predicting whether he will make a full recovery or not. I might know it after surgery but… in the end… only time will tell…".

Well, it's not what Victor has hoped to hear, but it's the truth and that's better than any sugar coated lie. It reminds him of the ice a little – sometimes harsh and hard and unforgiving but never fake, never pretending. "Can I wait here? While he's… in surgery?", Victor asks. He doesn't want to talk about the future anymore. Not when neither he nor Dr. Katsuki can predict what will happen.

"Of course you can. There's a waiting area for relatives down the hall, where you can stay", Dr. Katsuki answers and Victor walks over to the table where Makkachin is slowly falling asleep.

"If it's okay, I'll wait until he's passed out. I don't want to leave him", he says, running his hand through soft, curly fur.

"He'll be out cold in a few, but you can stay until then. There's not much I can do so far anyway. Not without hurting him. And that, I don't want", Dr. Katsuki says and walks around the table to examine whatever he can see without moving Makkachin. It's not much, Victor guesses, because there's blood and fur and the curled position the dog is in that block his injuries from view. A small sigh escapes the young man. "I can't see much so far, but several of his bones are broken. Or worst case, shattered. Whatever it is, he won't properly walk for quite some time. Where did you say you're from?".

"Oh… I… I didn't… we're from Russia though", Victor replies, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. He hasn't been the most polite person today, but maybe an injured pet is excuse enough for that.

"Mhm… Thought so… Your Makkachin won't be fit for transport for a while. But we can talk about that later. Looks like he's fallen asleep… so… I should get started…", Dr. Katsuki presses his lips against each other before giving Victor a lopsided smile.

"Oh… yes… you… you should", he agrees and finally moves away from Makkachin. He knows surgery may take hours and it scares him to be honest. Scares him beyond words. He's never been in a situation like this, so unsure if he'll ever see his puppy again.

Outside the examination room, Yuuko finally says her goodbyes. She hands Victor a small slip of paper with her telephone number scribbled on it. To stay in contact and tell her how Makkachin is doing, she says. Also, she wants to pay for the surgery and whatnot, claiming that it is her fault that Makkachin got hurt in the first place. Victor doesn't fully agree with her, though. After all, his dog has broken loose from the leash and for that only Victor is to blame. But at the moment, he doesn't have the energy to discuss who's to blame for what has happened.

Instead he just agrees and wishes her a nice day… of at least a nicer day… because the accident will probably haunt her dreams tonight. It will do Victor's, that's for sure.

The waiting area is quiet and other than himself, there's only an elderly woman waiting with him. She's talking to a nurse in hushed voices when Victor enters and takes a seat by the large windows overlooking a meadow with a small pond for koi fish. It looks peaceful, ideal for taking a walk with your pet and Victor thinks that it suits this place.

The sun is still shining outside. It's a beautiful day and Victor can picture himself out there in the meadow with Makkachin, playing fetch or just lazily laying in the grass, cuddled together. They often do that on hot days in St. Petersburg, when Victor is done with training and has time to be spent at leisure.

Victor doesn't exactly know how long the surgery takes, the battery of his phone has died by the time he wants to check it and the waiting area lacks a clock, but eventually, the sun starts to disappear behind the trees lining the meadow and the room grows darker and darker, until the elderly lady gets up from her chair and switches the lights on. She has been reading a magazine so far (completely in Japanese of course), but now she's smiling at Victor a little, two of her front teeth missing.

But Victor smiles back nonetheless. They're both in this together, waiting for their pets to come out of surgery.

And eventually a nurse enters the room, again talking to the woman, who then gets up from her chair and bows before Victor, wishing him 'konban-wa' – a good evening. (That much Japanese he knows.)

Afterwards, Victor busies himself with flipping through the various magazines available for waiting relatives. He doesn't understand a word, because he's even worse at reading Japanese than he is at speaking (or understanding).

Next time the door opens, it's not a nurse, but Dr. Katsuki, looking tired and drained. There're circles under his eyes and his shoulders hang a little, but he's smiling and that gives Victor hope that maybe Makkachin is doing alright.

"Hey", Dr. Katsuki greets, hands buried in the pockets of his lime green scrubs. The colour looks horrible on him, making him paler than he is.

"Hey there…", Victor says and gets up from his chair. He's so done sitting. His butt and back are aching and his neck is stiff from looking down at the magazines, which by the way are filled with pretty pictures. "How is he?".

"Stable. A lot of broken bones, some multiple times, but no organs were injured. He lost a lot of blood on the way here, but we gave him transfusions. He must stay here for some time. I had to use more than just a few screws and metal plates to secure his bones in a position that makes it possible of them to coalesce again", he explains, while watching Victor's face with those beautiful brown eyes.

"Does that mean he… will walk again…?", Victor asks, finally voicing one of his greatest fears. Makkachin wouldn't be the same if he couldn't run around and play. He was a happy, lively puppy with a lot of energy despite his age.

"Yeah, he will. It will take a lot of time and a lot of additional training, but with patience he will be able to walk and run again. First the bones have to mend and then his muscles as well. That won't happen overnight, but it will, eventually. We have a program here in the hospital for pets like him, if you're interested", Dr. Katsuki says, sounding a lot more hopeful now. The relief that Makkachin might make a full recovery is obvious on his features and it warms Victor's heart.

"Yeah… I mean… you said he's not fit for transport anyway?", Victor wants to know, fumbling with the hem of his still bloody shirt. He must look horrible, but he doesn't really care.

"Well, by the time recovery training starts, he will be fit enough to get him to Russia. They have good treatment there too. I understand if you want to go home as soon as possible", there's a slight… sadness… in Dr. Katsuki's voice and it makes Victor wonder where it comes from. Does this man find Victor as endearing as Victor finds him?

"Ah, yeah. I don't know. Don't have to decide that now, do I?", he says, reluctant to talk about getting back to Russia although he knows that Yakov will want him to as soon as possible.

"No, you don't. Well… I know you want to see Makkachin right away, but… It's still too early. He's not yet woken from anaesthesia and the risk of an infection is pretty high. By tomorrow morning he'll be awake and the antibiotics will do their work. You can come and visit him then".

Victor understands. Of course he does. It's too dangerous. But he's disappointed nonetheless. "I will be back first thing in the morning then", he says with a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry...", Dr. Katsuki replies, and again Victor believes him. It feels like this man knows exactly what Victor is going through, but he can't, can he? He's probably just had a lot of patients in his career and all their owners worry. It's natural. "Where do you stay? I'm free now and I can give you a ride… only if you want to of course!". The offering comes with a new blush that almost reaches the top of Dr. Katsuki's ears and his voice cracks, too fast for his tongue apparently.

But Victor just tells him which hotel he and Yakov are staying in and follows the young doctor to his car in the garage. Apparently, it would take some time to get to the hotel from the animal clinic despite Hasetsu being a rather small town.

"So, how come you speak English so well?", Victor asks, sitting in the passenger's seat, while they exit the hospital garage.

"I went to college in Detroit", Dr. Katsuki answers, eyes glued to the road, but smiling all the same. "A… And you, Mr. Nikiforov? What do you do for a living?".

"I'm a figure skater. Professional. With competitions and all. But… could you call me Victor? Mr. Nikiforov… that's my dad", he says, rubbing the back of his head again because he knows that addressing someone by their given name is something very personal in Japan, but he hates to be called 'Mr. Nikiforov'.

"Oh, yes of course. I'm Yuuri by the way", Dr. Katsuki, or maybe _Yuuri_ , replies. "I used to watch figure skating as a child. Wanted to become one myself at some time", he admits as they drive down what Victor identifies as the main road. It dark outside and the lights come in blurred though the windows, but Victor has walked down this street often enough these past days to recognize it.

"So why didn't you? Become a figure skater that is", Victor wants to know. It's strange how interesting this man appears to him. He feels drawn in; wants to know more about him, although he has just met him some hours ago.

"For my twelfth birthday my parents got me a dog. A poodle just like yours, but a lot smaller. That got me glued to pets, I guess. I was so fond of him and it pained me to think that one day I would have to say goodbye to him. I wanted to spare as many people that pain as possible and decided to become a veterinarian", he explained, sounding like he doesn't regret not becoming a figure skater for the sake of saving animal lives.

"That's the best reason", Victor says. He's grateful. Grateful that so many years ago, Yuuri's parents decided to give him a dog for his birthday, because otherwise he might have become a figure skater and wouldn't have been here today to save Makkachin. Whatever deity had made it so, Vic1tor was grateful to it.

They stop in front of the hotel a few minutes later and Victor leaves the car, but remains standing in the open door, leans down to get a proper look at Yuuri, who has his hands loosely wrapped around the steering wheel.

"Thank you", he breathes again, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. He isn't happy about what happened to Makkachin, but he's definitely looking forward to meeting Yuuri again. And then it hits him. He never asked if Yuuri has to work tomorrow. He's a doctor, isn't he? That means shift duty. "Will… will I see you tomorrow?", he asks, his voice a little too hopeful.

"Ah, yes. I'm on early shift tomorrow, so if you come by as soon as you said you would, I'll be there", Yuuri says, sounding pleased. Maybe Victor isn't wrong and the guy really likes him.

"Good! That's good! Oh… that means you only have a few hours of sleep left, doesn't it? I'm sorry! Go home and have some rest!", Victor smacks his hand against his forehead. God, he's going to screw up the one time he meets someone he's genuinely interested in.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. But you should catch up on some sleep, too. It's been… a hard day…", there's that strange sadness again, and Victor want to ask where it comes from, but it feels like it's too early to do that. Too private a matter to be addressed by someone Yuuri barely knows, even someone who rarely ever takes his eyes off the pretty doctor.

"Yeah, you're right. See you tomorrow then?", Victor says instead, and runs a hand through his hair. Maybe being casual will lead him somewhere. But then again, his shirt is covered in blood and he must look he hasn't slept in days. _Charming._

"Mhm. See you tomorrow. Good night", Yuuri says with a polite nod and a small smile.

Victor finally closes the door, reluctant of course, but he does it all the same and Yuuri starts the engine to drive off, while Victor watches his car disappear down the road. It's been a hard day. Far worse than Victor expected upon waking up this morning. But maybe, just maybe, all his bad luck will lead to something good.

He smiles for the first time since Makkachin's accident as he steps into the elevator and thinks about Katsuki Yuuri's adorable blush and his big brown eyes.

Yes, maybe something good will come out of this.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading! Any kinds of feedback, comments, kudos are appreciated! Tell me what you think, or what you want to read in this story.**

 **Love you all!**

 **If you like Puppy Love, go to my profil and check out my other Yuri on Ice Fanfiction ^-^**


	2. It's not a Date

**Heyho,**

 **Thank you so much for your reviews, comments, kudos, favs – whatever you did or where. It's so appreciated! You guys are the best!**

 **So somehow I got really glued to this little AU and finished the next chapter. This time from Yuuri's PoV. Please keep in mind that, just like canon-Yuuri, this guy is by no means a reliable narrator. His anxiety is messing with his mind more than once :P You've been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri! on Ice All characters belong to MAPPA and Mitsurō Kubo.**

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 **Chapter 2 It's not a Date**

It's early, far earlier than Yuuri likes, because he's an owl or whatever you call people who tend to stay awake deep into the night but sleep till ten. He doesn't need more than six or seven hours of sleep, but he needs them between three in the night and ten in the morning.

Right now the alarm on his bedside table says it's 5:37… it's a pain really. But it's Yuuri's own fault that he's up at this ungodly time of the day. Well, not entirely but partly at least. He is on early shift, meaning he has to be at the clinic at 7 am. Usually that means getting up at 6. But today everything is a bit different.

And the reason for all the difference is none other than figure skating legend Victor Nikiforov, who just happened to walk into the animal hospital Yuuri works at, yesterday with his injured dog. It's bad luck, isn't it? To walk into the man, you admired for over a decade only to have him casually step into your life and turn it upside down with nothing more than a smile.

Worst thing is, Yuuri is going to meet him again today. It's not that bad per say, but it makes Yuuri nervous, flustered even. So far he could hide that he very well knows who Victor Nikiforov is, by pretending to not know him, but he's seen Yuuko's glances. And of course she used the moment they spoke in Japanese to point out that this might be the moment Yuuri has waited for his entire life.

To meet the man whose face looks down on him from the many posters on his walls on a daily basis.

But it has happened and now Yuuri's nervous and anxious to screw things up. He wants to leave a good impression on Victor (God knows why) and in an attempt to do so, he's tried to slick back his hair. But it looks ridiculous.

Yuuri doesn't have a clue when it comes to styling, fashion and makeup. He looks pretty much the same every day, with his hair combed but otherwise loosely falling into his face and his blue framed glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, because he doesn't like the feel of contacts in his eyes. They don't exactly hurt, but they are still uncomfortable, and Yuuri is a person who values comfort over style.

His clothes aren't very fashionable either, for the same reason of course. But today… today he wants to make a good impression on his childhood crush, on the man he never thought he'd meet some day but yet, here he is, going to see Victor Nikiforov for a second day in a row because Makkachin was unfortunate enough to run in front of Yuuko's car. And Yuuri feels so sorry for him. Wants to take away all the pain and make the big puppy happy again. But he will. He's going to help as best as he can.

A sigh escapes his lips. Well, his attempt at copying the hair style Phichit gave him once in their freshman year when they attended their first and only frat party, hasn't really worked out. It looks bad. Like a teenager's first try to impress a girl at school. There's too much gel in his hair and he keeps squinting his eyes because the contacts irritate them.

As a last resort, because he doesn't want to make a complete fool of himself in front of Victor, Yuuri takes the contacts out and pushes his glasses back on his nose. There's no time left to fix his hair, but at least he'll be able to see without making stupid faces all the time.

Finally done with his styling (even if he isn't satisfied with it), Yuuri returns to his room and reaches for a blue button down shirt and white slacks. He's going to change into his white coat anyway as as soon as he arrives at the hospital.

Downstairs, he takes the bento his mother has prepared for him, from the fridge before he turns and kneels down to greet the only other soul in the house who's already up and about: The poodle he got for his twelfth birthday all those years ago. The one who made him realize that he rather wanted to be a vet than figure skater, but who was named after Yuuri's biggest idol – Vicchan.

"Good morning, boy", he greets his friend, rubbing his long ears affectionately. It took Yuuri five years to finish his studies in Detroit before coming back home with his PhD and enough knowledge to immediately start to work in the biggest animal clinic in the prefecture, and despite the fact that he had missed his family, it was his dog, whom he'd missed the most.

Vicchan wasn't exactly young anymore and by the time Yuuri returned, he'd even been sick, but thanks to his daddy's profession, he was all well again. That sometimes left Yuuri wondering if things would have gone different if he'd stuck to his old dream of becoming a figure skater. Would he have stayed in Japan? Or moved his home rink somewhere abroad? And who would have saved Vicchan if not him?

"Well, thinking about the ifs and whys won't get me anywhere", Yuuri murmurs, more to himself than to Vicchan but the dog licks his hand as if agreeing with him and Yuuri chuckles before he gets up and prepares breakfast for his dog. He's a little peculiar when it comes to Vicchan's diet, especially since he's been sick. No canned food, only fresh meat and a lot of vegetables.

Taking so long to get Vicchan's food ready also is the reason why Yuuri tends to skip his own breakfast and prefers to take a bento to work. He'd have to get up even earlier if he wanted to eat before work and he's not much a breakfast-person anyway, so why bother with even less sleep?

"Here you go", he says while placing the metal bowl on the ground at the exact spot where Vicchan is always fed. Routines are important for dogs. And Yuuri likes them as well. "Say 'hi' to mum, dad and Mari-neechan for me, yeah?".

The dog looks up at him, tiling his head to the right and Yuuri chuckles briefly at his expression, before he finally leaves his parents' inn. It's the middle of the week and they don't have that may customers staying overnight, so they don't have to get up this early already.

It's different on the weekends, when people from all over Japan (mostly from Fukuoka though) come to Hasetsu for a short trip and stay at the local onsen for the night. Yuuri doesn't really mind. The walls in the traditional Japanese house may be thin, but Yuuri's room is on the far side of the house and not much noise ever makes it there. (And he's working most of the weekends anyway).

He's just glad that his parents' onsen is still going so well even though they live in a rather rural area, or quoting Phichit: "at the arse end of nowhere". Admittedly, Hasetsu is just a small town by the sea and not even on the Japanese main island, but Yuuri likes it here. He's missed the peace and quiet of his hometown during his years in Detroit and coming back here is something he doesn't regret.

The only thing he sometimes still struggles with, even after months of being back, is the traffic. Suddenly driving on the left side again, when he's almost solely driven on the right side ever since he got his license, is still a little strange and on especially stressful days, when his mind wonders off, Yuuri still catches himself opening the wrong door.

But other than that, he feels like he's never been away and finally speaking Japanese again in his everyday life is something he marvels in. His English is good, but it's not his mother tongue and there just is a slight difference in how comfortable one feels when speaking.

By the time Yuuri arrives at the clinic only one of his colleagues is already there yet and she is giving him questioning looks. Well, he's never had his hair slicked back before.

"Are you going on a date or something?", she asks, taking a sip of her coffee and smirking at him. Everybody here knows that Yuuri has never been in a relationship and that him going on a date is just a likely as the sun setting in the east.

"N- no! Or course not! I- I just wanted to try something new", Yuuri replies, wiping his hands on his white cotton pants. He's sweating already and Victor isn't even here. Yesterday was easy. Yesterday Yuuri could focus on helping Makkachin. That distracted him from dealing with his failing nerves. But today there's nothing to keep Yuuri busy. Nothing to distract him from the smile that makes his knees go weak.

"Is that so?", his co-worker asks, eyebrows raised in astonishment. Yuuri knows it's not like him to just change something about his appearance because it never seemed important enough to him. But he can't exactly tell her the truth, can he?

 _It's because my teenage celebrity crush is going to drop by to visit his dog and I totally want to get into his pants_ , sounds crazy even to Yuuri himself. Nope, absolutely not an option.

"Well, I'm not going on a date. That's for sure", he replies instead, because it's the truth and Yuuri has never been a good liar.

"Too bad", is the only reply he gets, before he shakes his head and leaves the room to go check on their patients.

The dog ward is silent this early, a young nurse being the only one there yet, preparing food for those healthy enough to eat. Yuuri hopes Makkachin will be among them already. He's had surgery yesterday and his bones are pretty damaged, but other than that, he's healthy. His organs work normal despite the stress and he should be able to stomach solid food.

Yuuri can't help it, he walks past the nurse and several other dogs waiting in their boxes, straight to where Makkachin is already awake and wagging his tail as much as he can, with his hind legs stabilized and immobile to make sure the bones mend well enough for him to play fetch with Victor again soon.

"Hey boy", Yuuri greets, opening the box to scratch behind fluffy ears. "Did you sleep well?".

Makkachin just looks at him, head tilted to the right and tongue lolling out. He's not in pain, that much Yuuri has personally made sure of before he left the previous evening. Not being able to walk must still be hard for the energetic dog, but at least he's not suffering.

"I know you miss your daddy. You'll go home with him soon. I promise. Just a few more days to make sure your legs heal sufficiently and there's no infection in the wound", Yuuri explains. He knows his patients aren't human, but he likes to believe that telling them what's happening to them does make a difference.

For Yuuri, pets have always been part of the family and he's always treated them as such. It made his heart grow fonder to know that Victor seems to have the same connection to Makkachin as Yuuri has to Vicchan. Yuuri has of course seen Victor's poodle on several occasions either on TV or in magazines, but those were public places and things could be staged to make Victor appear more likable. Celebrities do stuff like that.

But now, with Victor and Makkachin so real in Yuuri's life, he can see that Victor's love for his pet isn't fake at all and that he maybe likes his dog more than any human.

"I'll go fetch your medication, sweetie. Be right back", Yuuri says, closing the door again because he cannot risk Makkachin to hop out of the box while Yuuri's away. And he's seen dogs do a lot of stupid stuff over the years. He doesn't think Makkachin's stupid, but he believes it's better to be safe rather than sorry.

A low whine escapes Makkachin, making Yuuri feel bad about leaving the dog alone, but it's not for long. He just walks over to the nurse's room, where they keep all the medication needed for the ward in a locked-up medicine cupboard

"Ohayo, Dr. Katsuki", the nurse greets him, she's done preparing food and now loads each bowl on a small tea cart. It's easier to carry all the food into the ward this way.

"Ohayo, Kusakabe-san. Would you mind if I snatched Makkachin's bowl from you?", asks Yuuri, feeling the slight blush creep up his neck. Somehow he doesn't want her to feed him, although he knows that she's a very capable person. There's a desire in Yuuri to connect to Victor's dog that has him cringe at the thought of anyone but him feeding Makkachin.

"Oh, no. Not at all", Kusakabe-san leans down and fetches Makkachin's bowl from among the others, handing it to Yuuri with a smile. "Your hair's nice today, Dr. Katsuki".

"Oh… thanks… I think I used a bit too much gel though", Yuuri's blushing an even deeper red now. He shouldn't have done this. It's too strikingly out of character for him to style his hair and by the time he leaves today, everyone in the clinic will spread gossip about why he'd started to wear his hair like that.

"Maybe. But you'll get used to it if you do it more often. You'll figure out how much to use in no time", she replies and smiles at him with bright perfect teeth. Yuuri has never been hit on by any of the nurses but he wonders if he is just now.

"We'll see", he says with a polite smile and turns towards the medicine cupboard while fishing for his key with his free hand. It's a relief when he hears the door to the nurses' room shut behind Kusakabe, making some of the tension in his shoulders ease away.

Girls aren't his strong point. Especially since he's never been interested in them and yet has been too polite or too shy or whatever, to tell them off. His reluctance to 'hurt somebody's feelings' even led to rather unpleasant situation in collage.

In his sophomore year, when Yuuri had still been in the ice skating club, a girl had composed a song for him to skate to. And Yuuri had felt grateful to her at the time, happy to have his own music for the first time, but he hadn't realized the crush she'd developed on him. And by the time he did, she had already introduced him to her friends as his boyfriend.

Needless to say, the conversation that followed had been anything but pleasant and the girl had never spoken to him again after.

A small sigh escapes him as he mixes Makkachin's medicine into the dog's food. He will have to keep an eye on Kusakabe to make sure things don't go down the gutter like they did with the music student.

By the time he's back at Makkachin's box, the nurse is nowhere to be seen and Yuuri decides to put her out of his mind for now to focus on Victor's pet instead. It's still not even eight in the morning, but he can't stop thinking about when the other man will come to visit.

"Here, sweetie. I brought you your breakfast", Yuuri says, placing the food drugged with medicine in front of Makkachin, to make sure the dog doesn't need to move to reach his bowl. Any unnecessary movement is to be refrained from, but a pet doesn't know that, which makes it the owner's (or doctor's) responsibility.

Makkachin happily digs into his food, either not noticing or not caring that the medicine has been mixed into the mash of meat, rice and vegetables.

"He eats. I guess that's a good sign?", the voice startles Yuuri, makes him jump a little before he turns towards a smiling Victor walking up to him, two steaming hot styrofoam cups of coffee in his hands. It's the most wonderful sight on earth. Firstly because it's Victor fucking Nikiforov and secondly because he's bringing Yuuri _coffee_.

"Are you some kind of mentalist?", Yuuri asks, as he takes the cup from Victor. Their fingers brush for the shortest of moments, but it sends jolts of electricity down Yuuri's spine and leaves a tingling sensation on his skin.

"I wish I was", Victor laughs, clear and warm and all kinds of perfect to Yuuri. Victor's voice always does strange things to Yuuri's heart. Makes it stop and stutter and clench, but always leaves a warm feeling behind when it washes over him like a stream. "I just figured you'd be tired after working so late yesterday. I'm tired. And why not buy two coffees if I need one for myself anyway".

Yuuri nods. Of course it is like that. Victor is just tired himself and wanted to be polite. He's not interested in Yuuri, but just being friendly after Yuuri saved his dog only yesterday. It natural. Nothing to get his hopes up from.

God, he must look ridiculous with his childish attempt to style his hair to appeal to his crush. This was Victor Nikiforov, the most famous figure skater on the planet. Fawned over and lusted after by so many, he can take someone new home every night and never spend one alone. Why would someone like him ever be interested in someone as plain as Yuuri?

"Thank you", he breaths, taking a sip from the hot liquid. It feels good, pooling in his stomach and warming him from the inside.

"Can I… touch him?", Victor asks, tilting his head towards Makkachin. His voice is a little timid and unsure. The events of yesterday have probably left him shaken.

"Yes you can. He's in a good state already. Just be careful and don't touch anything behind the shoulder blades. Just to be sure", Yuuri says. He should get back to work, but he can't bring himself to. Even if there's no chance at all that he and Victor will be anything more than dog owner and dog doctor, he wants to stay close to him for as long he can.

"Hey, baby boy! How are? Did Yuuri treat you well? I know he did. He's a wonderful person", Victor coos, rubbing Makkachin's ears and leaning his forehead against fluffy curls.

Yuuri blushes again at the praise, his heart beating fast and loud in his throat while his mind screams at him that Victor has just complimented him.

"I… uhm… I should…", Yuuri begins, unsure what to say. It's impolite to just stand there and stare.

"Oh, you need to go? Do I keep you from work?", Victor straightens up to properly look at Yuuri and there's a strange kind of sadness to his artic blue eyes - eyes that make Yuuri's breath hitch in his throat – that Yuuri can't pinpoint.

"Well… uhm… I could stay for a little longer… appointments only start at nine… so I'm free, but I don't want to intrude".

"You're not intruding, Yuuri!", Victor exclaims, the 'u' prolonged by his Russian accent so adorably that Yuuri thinks his guts are turning into mush. "Please stay with me. Look, Makkachin likes you! Let's pet him together. He needs so much love after yesterday".

With that said, Victor reaches for Yuuri's wrist, graceful long fingers closing around slightly tanner skin, to pull him into Victor's embrace. Soon they stand in front of Makkachin's box, both of them petting the injured puppy, but all Yuuri can think about is Victor standing so close behind him that his chest touches Yuuri's back every time he takes a breath.

It's distracting. Alluring. Yuuri wants to stay like this forever.

And Makkachin marvels in the attention, happily licking at Yuuri's and Victor's fingers whenever they come into easy reach. Yuuri thinks it's lovely. Has always thought so when pictures of Victor with his dog popped up in the media.

He sighs. That only reminds him that he has yet to tell Victor that he knows him. Not only since yesterday but _forever_.

How was Yuuri supposed to tell him? Yesterday it seemed to be best to not tell him right away. The situation wasn't ideal. Anything but, really. With Makkachin injured and in surgery. And afterwards Yuuri was too much of a coward. However, today things seem even worse. Telling Victor that he's actually a fan (which is probably an understatement) might come across as creepy, especially after keeping silent yesterday.

The situation is bad.

"When does your shift end?", Victor suddenly asks, interrupting Yuuri's trail of thoughts so suddenly it almost makes him jump again.

"At 2 pm", Yuuri says, busying his hands with petting Makkachin again, to distract his unhelpful mind from focusing in the way Victor's chest vibrates against Yuuri's back every time the Russian speaks.

"Would you have lunch with me? After your shift? My treat."

Yuuri blinks and half turns, now searching for Victor's gaze because he can't believe it's true. Can't be. Why would someone like Victor ask someone like Yuuri out? Or was it gratitude for helping Makkachin?

"W- Why do you want to take me to lunch? I mean- Isn't that-", his voice is failing him as his anxiety takes over and makes his throat go tight.

Victor raises his hands in defence. The strange sadness once again passing through his eyes. "It's not a date or something. Don't worry. I just… want to show my gratitude", he explains, nervous smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Oh… of course. Just gratitude. Nothing more. But even if Yuuri already suspected that, it still hurts to know. Hurts to know that Victor doesn't want to go on a date with him. It's painful but Yuuri still wants to go. He likes Victor. More than he should. And soon his crush will be back in Russia, thousands of miles away from Yuuri and they'll never see each again. He has to make this count. Has to spend as much time with Victor as possible.

"In that case: Let's have lunch after my shift", he agrees, relaxing a little as he takes a step away from Victor.

"Good. I'm glad", Victor says with a smile that never reaches his eyes. Yuuri knows that smile. He's seen it a thousand times – on television, posters, magazines. It's Victor's public smile. The fake one. The one he shows to the world but doesn't mean it. And it bugs Yuuri that he now finds himself on the receiving end of that smile, when all he wants is for Victor to be his real self.

They may only know each other for a little more than twelve hours, but Yuuri already likes the real Victor even more than the public one. His smiles are heart shaped and his gestures a little over the top, but that only adds to how cute Yuuri thinks Victor is.

He wants to call Victor out on it, but fears to give away too much if he does and keeps his quiet instead. They can talk that out some other time. Maybe.

"Do you have to be anywhere, or do want to wait here with Makka until I finish my shift?", Yuuri asks, maybe a change of topic will bring back Victor's true self.

"Yakov probably wants me to practice, but I'd much rather stay here", Victor says with a grin that makes Yuuri laugh.

"So you risk being yelled at?"

"I'm always being yelled at".

They both laugh at that and it feels real and warm, Victor's voice fills the room and Yuuri thinks he's floating on the sound. He would gladly give up his job and degree just to hear that laugh forever.

"Well, then feel free to wait here. I'll come and fetch you once I'm done", says Yuuri before he turns to talk out of the ward. He has to prepare the examination rooms for today's appointments. Not all their patients are critically wounded dogs and not all of them stay overnight.

Often people just bring their pets because they show some symptoms of any kind and Yuuri examines them before prescribing medicine that will help with their condition. Usually days like this go by pretty fast because they are filled with patient after patient, some of them easier to treat than others but in general not that hard to cure. Today however, time seems to crawl by.

Yuuri more than once catches himself checking the time on his watch, wishing it was 2 pm already. Somehow the thought of having lunch with Victor makes him incredibly impatient.

His last patient that day is an elderly black and grey tabby cat with chronic cat flu. It keeps sneezing all over the examination table and as much as Yuuri loves his job, he really does feel a little gross after leaving the room. The cat is quite cute, the sneezing not so much.

Victor is still waiting in the dog ward, sitting beside Makkachin's box and reading something from his phone to his dog in Russian. It is a cute sight and Yuuri decides to remain silent for a little while longer and watch the other man interact with his puppy.

Makkachin's head rests on his paws and his tongue is lolling out a little, but he seems content and happy (as happy as one can be with their hind legs immobile), with his daddy beside him reading in a steady, calm voice.

They stay like this for some minutes, Yuuri watching Victor and Makkachin while a slow smile stretches across his lips. He takes out his phone and snaps a picture of the two; the camera makes a clicking sound interrupting Victor's steady stream of words.

He lowers his phone and looks up, artic eyes glancing towards Yuuri. "You done?", he asks with a small smile. It's still a little strange to Yuuri how many sides of Victor he gets to see now. The calm, almost timid one as well as the excited one, showing his heart shaped smile whenever he is happy.

"Yeah. I'll just rinse off real quick and get changed. We can leave after that ", says Yuuri, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He's going to keep the picture. It's cute and maybe, when Victor is gone, Yuuri will print it and stick it to his wall. The one picture of Victor that's just his; that no one else on the planet possesses, because no one but him saw Victor in that intimate, cute moment.

There's a nod of acknowledgement before Yuuri turns towards the changing room and takes a quick shower. It feels good to wash off the sweat of the day before setting out for lunch and by the time he's dressed in casual clothes instead of his white coat, he feels like a decent human being again.

Victor has already said goodbye to Makkachin and is waiting for Yuuri in the lobby, thumbing through his social media accounts.

"Is it really okay to keep you from training any longer?", Yuuri asks, not sure if having lunch with Victor will cause the Russian man even more problems. Yakov is strict at best and a real pain in the ass at worst.

"It's my life. I make the decisions. If Yakov doesn't like them, he's free to go back to Russia and yell at the rest of our team", Victor replies with a shrug, but holds an arm out for Yuuri to take it.

And Yuuri blushes again of course, but takes the offered arm nonetheless, earning himself a cocked eyebrow from the nurse currently sitting at the desk right next to them. It's still only gratitude, Yuuri tells himself. Nothing to get his hopes up over.

"So, is there a restaurant you'd recommend?", Victor asks as he holds the door open for Yuuri to exit.

"There's a nice okonomiyaki place nearby. It's not too pricy but the food is great. If you like okonomiyaki that is".

"Okonomiyaki? What is it?", Victor asks, his face alight with an almost childlike curiosity that makes Yuuri smile again. It's just not possible to not crush on this man. And really, he doesn't have to fool anybody anymore. He's had a crush in Victor since forever and it was getting worse and worse the longer he knew the real man.

"It's fried a dough with green cabbage, egg, nagaimo, dashi and whatever stuff you like. Usually it's green onions and some kind of meat that comes in thin slices. And there's a sweet sauce on top as well as mayonnaise. It's great. Greasy probably, but very good", Yuuri explains, tightening his grip around Victor's arm to keep himself from fumbling with the hem of his shirt.

"Sounds good. Lead the way", Victor giddily walks faster, stopping only when he needs Yuuri to show him in which direction to go. It's not easy to keep up with the other man, as his legs are longer than Yuuri's and his pace is pretty fast. He's either extremely hungry or extremely excited. Yuuri guesses it's a mixture of both.

Inside the restaurant they are immediately greeted by a waiter who shows them to their table. It's relatively empty at this time of the day, as most Japanese people prefer to have dinner out rather than lunch, but Yuuri is thankful for that. He doesn't like crowded places and quickly feels uncomfortable around a lot of strangers.

"It's a cosy place. I like it", Victor looks around with bright eyes, fingers skimming along the rim of the teppan that's not heated yet. The interior is simple, a lot of wood and small booths to sit in, but it's nice. The atmosphere is calm and inviting. Yuuri likes it here. Likes the low noises coming from the television in the corner of the room.

"It's not much, but the food is very good", Yuuri says as the waiter from before hands each of them a menu and turns the teppan in the middle of their table on.

Victor smiles again, but looks down at the menu in his hands. It's completely in Japanese but there are enough pictures of the dishes provided to make up for the lack of language knowledge.

"They come either with pork, beef, seafood or a mixture of these. Some also include cheese and you can order additional stuff to your okonomiyaki if you like", Yuuri explains pointing at the respective dishes on the menu.

"What will you have?", Victor asks. He is flipping through the menu, stopping every now and then, but unable to decided what he wants to eat.

"I'll have pork and cheese. Traditionally the cheese doesn't belong in there but I like the taste", Yuuri knows he's blushing again. Okonomiyaki isn't exactly a _light_ dish and Yuuri has always had problems with his weight, but he thinks it's okay to let it go for one day.

"Sounds great. Can you order the same for me too?", this time it's Victor whose cheeks are dusted pink. Yuuri knows exactly how the other man must feel. He remembers vividly his time in Detroit when had barely known any English and tried to order food.

"Gladly. You won't regret it", he says, offering a sweet smile. Our at least what he hopes is a sweet smile.

The waiter comes back to their table and Yuuri orders for both of them in rapid Japanese, while Victor watches him with curious eyes. With a nod the waiter disappears to prepare the dough for their food.

"He'll be back soon. Okonomiyaki is usually prepared on the table itself", Yuuri explains, now back to English.

"This is so interesting! I've never had my food prepared on a grill in the middle of the table!", Victor exclaims with his heart shaped smile and somewhat too enthusiastic gestures.

"Glad I could show you something new".

"Hey Yuuri, why did you change your hairstyle today?", Victor suddenly asks, catching Yuuri off guard. Until just now Yuuri believed that Victor wouldn't address his changed appearance, but as he does, Yuuri feels his blush deepen and ducks his head to avoid the other man's gaze.

"Ah... I- uhm… I wear them like this sometimes. When I feel like it", her lies, unable to tell the truth - that he wanted to look his best for Victor, but failed miserably. Because Victor isn't interested in him _that_ way. He's just here to thank the guy who helped his dog.

"Oh really?", he sounds astonished, but smiles nonetheless. "It looks great on you by the way".

The words make Yuuri's heart skip a beat and butterflies explode in his stomach.

 _This is not a date. This is not a date. -_ he tells himself over and over again until the waiter arrives to prepare their food.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm already working on the next update!**

 **Just in case you wondered, a teppan is a Japanese table grill and some restaurants feature only these tables. You choose from a menu and the basic ingredients are being mixed by the chef in the kitchen. The waiter then comes back to your table and whatever you ordered is being fried right in front of you, on your table while you watch. It's great! If you're ever in Japan, try it! Especially in the Kansai region (Kyoto, Osaka etc.) okonomiyaki is very popular.**

 **Next chapter will feature the rest of their not-a-date and be from Victor's perspective again. So we can all see what he thinks about Yuuri. And as I promised, Makkachin is on the road to full recovery. Btw. some of you asked me if I could include alive!Vicchan, and as you can see, I already did. I planned for him to be alive from the beginning, because in this AU Yuuri was there to save is puppy.**

 **Okay, enough for today. I hope enjoyed the update and please tell me what you think of this chapter! And if you have any questions or things you want to tell me, just come and find me on tumblr hikarisdream! Love you all!**


	3. Clear as Ice

**Heyho,**

 **Thank you so much for your reviews, comments, kudos, favs . I was so happy to see and read them all. If I haven't replied yet, I'm sure I will do in the next few days.**

 **This chapter is written from Victor's PoV again and includes the second part of their day together. I still hope that the story will end with maybe 10 chapters in total, but I can't promise anything as I'm rather bad at predicting such things.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri! on Ice All characters belong to MAPPA and Mitsurō Kubo**

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 **Chapter 3 Clear as Ice**

Katsuki Yuuri is an enigma. One Victor is determined to unravel. He's full of contradictions. When Victor first saw him this morning with his new hair style, hair slicked back with a little too much gel, he had been sure Yuuri had dressed up to impress him, but then he'd claimed to wear his hair like this regularly and now Victor doesn't know what to think anymore.

The different style suits him, he thinks. Makes Yuuri look more mature and brings out the angles of his face. And Victor wonders what he would look like if one were to also take away the glasses. Because they leave him cute and adorable, resting on the bridge of his nose. Victor can only imagine what those cheekbones would look like without them.

There are two sides to Yuuri and Victor has seen the second one shimmer through the surface. One side is all about comfy clothes and rounded features, with loose, soft hair and blushing cheeks, the other however, is sharp, seductive – with smouldering eyes gazing up at him from beneath long dark lashes. And all Victor wants, is to see both sides. The shy Yuuri as well as the confident one.

He wonders if even Yuuri knows both of them yet.

Right now they're sitting in a small restaurant and the grill in the middle of their table is emitting heat that goes straight to Victor's face and dusts it pink. Not that that is a bad thing per say, but he still wants to impress the other man, even if he claims that he didn't try the same with Victor.

More than once, he's wondered if this is in fact a date. He wants it to be, but he's not sure if Yuuri feels the same. It's obvious that the other man is pretty shy and Victor doesn't want to scare him off by being too forward. Claiming to simply show his gratitude is easier than admitting that he's interested in Yuuri _that way._

Victor has known a fair share of shy people in his life and even if he's not actually that good with handling them, he knows a few things- like taking it slow. And that's exactly what he's going to do. He's going to take it slow with Yuuri. Make him comfortable to open-up and tell him that this is not a date, even if Victor fully intends it to be.

Yuuri will figure it out later. Victor hopes.

"So… why are you in Japan?", Yuuri asks, fumbling with the chopsticks in front of him. He's nervous, Victor can tell.

"Oh, I guess you know that it's the off season right now and there are no competitions, but skaters participate in ice shows during the summer and there was one in Nagoya a few days ago. My coach thought I should seize the opportunity and go on a short vacation. To find inspiration for my new programs. But he also insisted that we choose a place with an ice rink, so I could train. But I haven't been there yet, to be honest. Hasetsu is so nice! We went sight-seeing and then… well… the accident happened", Victor is rambling. He tends to do that when he's nervous or excited or both. Yakov always tells him it's a bad habit and that he should fight it, but Yuuri just smiles at him while Victor talks, clinging to every word that spills over his lips.

Warmth spreads through Victor's chest like liquid sunshine. He hasn't felt this appreciated in a long time, but somehow Yuuri manages to make him feel alive and welcome without doing anything special. It's just the way his eyes light up and he licks his lips to unconsciously. Victor is enamoured.

"That sounds like a good idea. To go on a vacation, I mean", Yuuri replies, his words afterwards interrupted by the waiter who returns to their table with the finishes dough and a plate with toppings. He spreads a little oil in the hot surface before placing the slices of pork in front of them, which immediately roast, turning brown and crispy.

The smell is mouth-watering and Victor's stomach gives off a low rumble. "Ah sorry", he says, embarrassed by his now very obvious appetite. "It just smells so delicious".

Yuuri shakes his head and smiles. It's genuine and honest and does all kind of funny things to Victor's blood pressure. God, he's falling hard. "Don't worry. It's fine", says Yuuri, while the waiter turns the pork over to roast the other side.

It's a little awkward at first for Victor to continue their conversation while the waiter prepares their food right in front of them, even if the man probably doesn't understand a word they're saying. Yuuri didn't order for both of them in Japanese for nothing. However, by the time the pork is fried and the dough hits the grill, Victor is more relaxed, and enjoys sharing dog-stories with Yuuri. They both own poodles, it's not too hard to find a common topic.

"Well, Makkachin still tries to fit into the empty downmost shelf, because he just doesn't understand that he's not a puppy anymore and has grown too big for it", he says with a chuckle, watching Yuuri's entire face light up at the story. It's beautiful, the way his eyes shine with joy and his cheeks turn red but not from embarrassment. He's still bashful, but that only adds up to his unique charm.

"He's a big puppy, if you ask me", he replies taking a sip from the water that's being served for free in all Japanese restaurants. It's not like they couldn't afford to order something else, but Victor does like fresh, clear water above sweet and sticky drinks (almost everything in Japan is sweet and sticky) and just assumes that Yuuri feels the same way.

He says: "Judging by his behaviour, you're quite right. Only his size doesn't agree with that". They both laugh again, leaving Victor wondering when he'd last had this much fun at lunch. For once he isn't out eating with either his teammates or any kind of sponsors and he isn't talking about figure skating or medals or competitions and it's a very welcome change of topic.

Victor loves figure skating, has done so his entire life, but he's sometimes just tired of it being the only thing that seems to determine his life. There's no room for anything else. But with Yuuri there is. Yuuri doesn't see him as nothing else but the legendary figure skater. For this man, Victor is just the owner of another patient and someone with whom to share cute stories about their dogs. And for the first time in forever, Victor really feels the wish to skate. Not for practice or competition or trophies, but only for Yuuri. To make a smile spread on his lips and brighten up his eyes.

"Hey, what are doing after lunch?", Victor asks by the time the waiter is spreading a sweet-smelling, brownish sauce on the okonomiyaki in front of them.

Yuuri's eyes glance up at him from under those softly curved, long lashes. "Uhm… nothing as of yet", he says with a smile, tilting his head a little the side as if waiting for Victor to explain why he asked in the first place.

"Would you like to go to the rink with me?", Victor asks, watching Yuuri pick up his chopsticks and small spatula as the waiter does his finishing touches by tracing streamlined patterns of mayonnaise onto the okonomiyaki.

There's a small pause in Yuuri's movements as his eyes grow wide at the question and his cheeks dust a deeper shade of red. He bites his lower lip and averts his gaze, thinking hard about what Victor just said, leaving the other man to wonder why Yuuri acts a little like caught in the act.

"Y-… You would want to… h-… have me watch you skate?", he asks, busying himself with cutting his okonomiyaki in little squares to avoid looking at Victor, who doesn't call him out on it, but imitates what Yuuri is doing to make sure he doesn't embarrass himself as the uncivilized foreigner he is.

"Of course! Well, not exactly, I want you to join me and skate with me. Would you do that?"

The reaction he gets is certainly not the one he expected, because there's a clank ringing through the almost vacant room when Yuuri drops the glass he meant to drink from seconds before and water spills over the table, which Yuuri tries to wipe up with the napkins sitting on the right side of their table. He's fumbling and blushing so hard it reaches the tip of his ears.

"Oh my God! I- I'm so sorry. I'm so clumsy. Please don't hate me", he mutters and crumples the now soaked napkins into a small pile that sits on the table next to Yuuri once there's no water left.

Victor feels bad for making him react this harsh, but wonders again why the other man is so flustered when it comes to skating. "Don't worry. Happens to me all the time", he says, reaching across the table in a bold move and placing his left hand on Yuuri's right one.

To be honest, he half expects Yuuri to jerk his hand away, but nothing like that happens. Instead, the other man finally stills and looks up at Victor, warm brown eyes meeting his gaze as Yuuri nods. "I would love to skate with you… It's just…", he pauses and Victor thinks he's about to say something important, something that doesn't make it over his lips easily. "I don't want to be an inconvenience to you when you have to focus on your training".

It's not what Victor thought he would say. On the contrary, he had a feeling that Yuuri changed his words at the last moment, not saying what is really going through his mind. But if it's something personal, Victor has to respect that. They only met yesterday and he can't expect the other man to open up to him this quickly. Especially not when it is so painfully obvious that Yuuri is a shy and rather secluded person.

"Oh you won't be. Don't worry. I haven't skated just for fun in so long. I'd love to do it with you", Victor says, balancing the chopsticks between his fingers and picking up the first piece of okonomiyaki, which he doesn't eat yet, but waits for Yuuri's reply first.

Yuuri moistens his lips and smiles at Victor. He's not as skittish any more, with Victor's left hand still resting on his and his lips are slightly parted even after his pink tongue disappears in his mouth again. "Well, if that's the case… I'd love to go skating with you".

It only takes a second for Victor to process that Yuuri has indeed agreed to skate with him, before his entire face lights up and he beams at the other man in delight, chopsticks still holding the small square of food as his fingers slowly become numb – his grip is probably too hard. "Thank you, Yuuri!", he says and finally pushes the first piece of food past his lips.

Okonomiyaki is probably one of the best things Victor has ever eaten in his life. The fried dough is soft and well-seasoned, the pork is smoky and works quite nicely with the cheese and the sauce and mayonnaise give the dish a touch of sweetness that Victor very much welcomes. "Vkusno!", he exclaims, the second his tongue wraps around the food.

Yuuri chuckles at his antics, the tremor of his laugh vibrating through his body so that Victor can still feel it where their hands touch and he wonders what he would be like if he pressed his ear to Yuuri's chest and cuddled up to him while the other man laughed.

"I guess that means you like it?", Yuuri asks, before finally eating the first piece of his own dish.

"I love it! Thank you, Yuuri, for taking me here", replies Victor with a happy smile. He's relaxed and enjoying himself and as much as he wishes Makka would have never gotten hurt, he's also glad to have met the man sitting in front of him right now.

The rest of their lunch passes rather uneventful as they talk about this and that, not really caring about the topic, but focused on the warm feeling that spending time with Yuuri leaves in Victor's chest and by the time both their okonomiyaki are finished, Victor notices that he still hasn't lifted his hand off of Yuuri's and Yuuri still hasn't protested against it. It's a pleasant surprise that has Yuuri blush an adorable shade of pink when he notices as well.

Neither of them jerks their hand away, but Victor slowly withdraws his, not without running his thumb over soft skin though. A smile is shared between them, before Victor gets up and pays for their food at the counter by the door. He has already fished some coins from his purse when he remembers that tipping is not appropriate in Japan and puts them back, before handing over a 5000 Yen bill and accepting the change with a polite reply.

Outside its already too warm for jackets, with the sun high in the sky as they walk back to the hospital were Yuuri has parked his car. "Ice Castle is quite nice", he suddenly says, hands buried in the pockets of his pants. They were already walking for a little while, but had both fallen silent after some minutes of discussing their plans for today.

"Ice Castle?", Victor repeats, not really sure what that is supposed to mean. A castle made of ice in early June? No that can't be it.

"Oh… uhm… It's the name of the local rink. Hasetsu has a castle, you know and the rink was named after it. Ice Castle".

"Oh that's so cute!" Victor coos, delighted by the pun in the name of the rink he'd be training in for the time to come. He can see Yuuri smile at him again and there's something tender in his eyes that goes straight to Victor heart and leaves him breathless.

"You think? A tourist once told me that he finds it ridiculous. But I believe it's witty. On a bad-pun-level of witty", replies Yuuri, opening the door to the garage. They had already agreed on first going back to the hotel so Victor could fetch his sports gear and tell Yakov that he was finally going to train (more or less), then heading to Yuuri's place, to do the same (minus talking to Yakov of course), before finally going to the rink.

"Well, it's a bad pun indeed, but that doesn't make it less cute", answers Victor, entering the cool building. The smell of fuel and rubber is hanging heavy in the air on a day as warm as this.

It's not something Victor appreciates, but it's just a short walk to Yuuri's car, which smells of spices and herbs in a way that reminds Victor of cosy inns and extensive baths. He thinks it's typically Japanese, but he doesn't really know why.

The drive to the hotel passes in silence and Victor smiles at Yuuri when he gets out of the car to fetch his skating gear. "Don't you dare run from me", he jokes, standing beside the car and feeling reluctant to leave. His heart is telling him to not let Yuuri out if his sight, but he can't ask the other man to come with him just to fetch a few items, can he? How creepy would that be?

Yuuri just chuckles and shakes his head. "Wouldn't dream of it. I'll be right here, when you return".

"Good boy", Victor says and pushes away from the car to get inside. The hotel is a bit on the luxurious side, since Yakov insisted on them choosing an 'appropriate' place, claiming that Victor had some kind of celebrity status and should live up to the image created for the media.

He takes his skating gear from his own room, before he knocks at his coach's door and waits for him to open. Yakov's always sceptical face appears in the doorframe and he raises both his brows at Victor. "Vitya, I thought you are at the animal hospital to see Makkachin", he says, voice leaving no doubt what he thinks about that.

"Ah, yes, I was. But now I'm headed for the rink. You coming along?", Victor asks, basking in the astonished face his words earn him. He's not exactly the epitome of diligence when it comes to training. All his life, skating has been like a second nature to him and he's been a fast learner no matter what Yakov asked of him, but that also made him slack off sometimes, thinking that he didn't need the practice to be on top, because he is unstoppable anyway.

"I have to finish a skype call with Mila about her Short Program for next season, but I'll take the bus when I'm done. You start on your own and remember to practice your spins. They're nice, but your angle and timing aren't the best at the moment", Yakov says grumpy as ever even if he does appreciate Victor's eagerness to train.

Victor gives him a nod and turns, happy to go back to Yuuri, who's still waiting in the car in front of the hotel, gaze lost somewhere in a realm only he can see, by the time Victor returns. "What are you thinking about?", Victor asks, once he gets into the passenger seat and feels a little guilty because Yuuri's obviously startled out of his string of thoughts.

"Nothing. Sorry", Yuuri says, his smile apologetic and gentle. Victor doesn't believe him, but all this is still too new for him to press for more answers. So instead, he just accepts that Yuuri doesn't want to tell him what made him zone out for now. If everything goes as planned, they will be a lot closer soon.

"Okay, ready to go?".

There's a nod and Yuuri stars the engine, steering the car back onto the street. It's not a really long drive to where he lives, but by the time they arrive Victor is staring in awe at the entrance of a traditional Japanese building that practically screams 'onsen'. "This is where you live?".

Yuuri blinks at him. It's clear as day that he isn't aware that he's never brought Victor home so far (which isn't hart considering they've only known each other for two days so far). His lips form a surprised 'o' when he realizes what's going on and his cheeks blush adorably red again. "Ah yes… my parents own an onsen. With inn and all. It's the last one here in Hasetsu", he explains, eyes darting to the wooden arch that marks the entrance. "We can come back here after your training and soak in the hot water", he proposes.

"Can we really do that? Oh Yuuri, it would be so great!", to say Victor is excited would be an understatement. He's buzzling with eagerness. So far, he's never been to an onsen despite having come to Japan several times before, always believing that they were off limits for foreigners.

"Of course we can. And it will help to relax your muscles after intense practice", Yuuri says, getting out of the car. "I'll be right back".

Victor leans back on the seat and crosses his arms behind his head. It's nice to be here. Hasetsu is small and rural, but there's a peace to the place that makes Victor feel calm in a way he hasn't in a very long time. St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia and always busy with people and traffic. Hasetsu however, is slow and quiet and you can feel the wind from the ocean on your face and the air smells like salt and sea foam.

And above all, Hasetsu has Yuuri.

Yesterday, Victor though that the young doctor was kind of cute and worth getting to know; today he's barely able to not think of him for even ten seconds. But he also knows what Yakov will say: that Victor can't move his home rink to a small town at the end of the world because he happened to develop a serious crush on guy living here.

"Yuuri", he coos when said man comes back to the car and puts a bag with skating gear on the back seat.

"Hey Victor. Sorry for the wait. Had to feed-", there's a pause in his sentence as he speaks and Yuuri licks his lip tentatively. "My dog", he finally says and Victor wonders what Yuuri was keeping from him this time. What was it that made him so uncomfortable that he avoided telling the whole truth?

"No problem. I would never want a poor poodle to be neglected because of me", says Victor with a smile. He still doesn't want to confront Yuuri about his behaviour, but he's also not going to forget it. Hopefully there will be a chance to talk about these issues soon.

Yuuri chuckles and gets back into the driver seat. "I'll tell him that".

"What's his name anyway?", Victor asks. Dogs must be a save topic for sure. They both love dogs after all. And they've talked about them a lot already today, with Yuuri calling his pet 'my dog' all the time.

But Yuuri falls silent again for a moment and Victor wonders if maybe something is wrong with Yuuri's poodle as well. Maybe he's sick. So sick that even Yuuri can't help him and talking about it is too painful. "His name is Vicchan", he finally says with a nervous smile, eyes glued to the street as he speaks.

"That's a cute name", Victor says and he means it. Vicchan. It has a ring to it. He also wonders if it's a nickname or something, because he know that 'chan' is a Japanese honorific, but with pets he guesses the 'chan' suffix could be part of the given name as well, because pets are always cute.

"Thank you. I choose the name when I got him", Yuuri explains, earning him nod from Victor. A name ending with 'chan' sounds very much like something a child would choose.

They arrive at the rink fifteen minutes later with the sun already starting to set in the west and a slow breeze rustling through the leaves. Ice Castle is a lot smaller and less luxurious than the rink in St. Petersburg, Victor can tell by just looking at the building, but he doesn't mind. It's cosy.

The doors slide open in front of them, revealing a lobby and counter to them, where people come to lend skates and pay for the rink when it's open for the public. And behind the counter stands a young woman, whom Victor knows all too well already.

"Yuuko-san!", he exclaims cheerfully, turning towards Yuuri. "You didn't tell me your friend works here!". It wasn't a real accusation, but a rather playful indignation that Yuuri had kept this from him.

"Oh, I thought Yuuko had already told you. I'm sorry", Yuuri says, lowering his gaze as they walk to the counter and Yuuko greets them with a bright smile.

"Hey you two!", she waves at them enthusiastically. "How's Makkachin?".

"Better. It will take some time, but he's gonna be all fine again", Yuuri explains. Victor doesn't mind him answering the question. Yuuri has more of an inkling of the subject than Victor does. It's his profession after all.

"I'm so glad! Couldn't live with myself if he wasn't all fine again soon".

This time it's Victor's turn to reply and he gently smiles at her. "It's alright. You didn't hit him on purpose, he broke loose from the leash. Please, don't blame yourself", he says.

Yuuko sighs, but agrees to not feel guilty over Makkachin's injury any longer. Instead she tells both of Victor and Yuuri that they of course don't have to pay the entrance fee, but can go inside for free and stay for as long as they want, because Yuuri does have key after all. (Not that he ever uses it, because he thinks it's rude).

"How come you have a key to the rink?", Victor asks, once they sit in the locker room and change into their skating gear. Yuuri has his back towards him, shielding his chest and stomach from Victor's gaze, but from what the other man sees, he's quite delighted. Yuuri's shoulders a not as broad as Victor's and he's slightly shorter, but his hips are narrow and there's a tiny roundness to them that Victor thinks suits Yuuri perfectly.

"Oh, I used to come here often, even after I decided to become a vet instead of a figure skater. And Yuuko doesn't mind me being here. She and her husband own the place and we've been friends since forever so… yeah… I have a key to the place. But I never use it", Yuuri says, turning back to Victor once he's pulled a dark blue long-sleeved shirt over his head to hide his body underneath.

"But it's so convenient!", Victor exclaims, waving his arms through the air. He would kill to have Yakov hand him a key to the rink. Victor could go and train whenever he felt like it and not just when his coach told him he had to.

Yuuri is blushing again, but looks up to Victor (who is currently rummaging through his gear bare chested, because he thought it would be a good idea to strip before getting his shirt out to show Yuuri is muscles (he knows it's immature, but a man can hope)), and starts lacing up his skates. They are worn and the leather is peeling off at some places. Yuuri must have had them for years by now to have them look like this. But the blades are made of steel - for competitive skating.

"Maybe we can make use of the key together sometime", Yuuri suddenly says, eyes glued to the laces of his skates now and purposefully avoiding Victor's gaze while his blush creeps up to his ears again. So adorable.

"Oh Yuuri, I would love that! How about tomorrow? Or the day after? Or both?", Victor knows he's probably too excited, but he can't help it. The thought of spending time with Yuuri, on the ice of all places, is just so appealing to him that he want's make it happen as much as possible.

There's shy laughter on Victor's right side and Yuuri looks up at him, both skates laced up, blade guards in place. He is waiting for Victor, who's just pulling his shirt down. "We'll see, okay? I have to make sure it doesn't get into the way with work".

Victor agrees, because he knows how much Yuuri loves his work and he would never want him to get in trouble.

Five minutes later they are finally on the ice, or rather Victor is, while Yuuri leans over the barrier and smiles at him.

"Don't you want to join me?", Victor asks with a pout, gliding into a hold in front of the younger man.

Yuuri bites his bottom lip, pink tongue darting out for a moment before he speaks: "Would you… skate for me?", he asks shyly. "Your… routine… whichever routine you like… I mean… you don't have to… but… if you want to… I'd like to see it". He's stammering and Victor loves it, but he also wants to take away Yuuri's insecurities and make him see what an amazing person he is.

"Of course I can. Do you want so see my Short Program for next season? It's already finished", Victor agrees, nodding eagerly. He's a bit nervous to show that particular program to Yuuri of all people. "You'd be the first person outside team Russia to ever see it".

Yuuri's eyes go wide, and Victor has lost count how many times that has happened today, but he's relieved when Yuuri nods eagerly. "I'd love to see that, Victor. I'm sure it's great".

Victor smiles wickedly as he raises his right index finger to his bottom lip. "But there's one condition – once I'm done you join me and we skate together".

"Agreed!"

All his life, people have watched Victor on the ice, eyes glued to his every move and spin, to every jump and every step. Some judging, some admiring him, but never has he cared about them. Even Yakov's opinion is something Victor might acknowledge, but he never felt bad about it, even when the feedback was rather harsh. But today, he's self-conscious. Today, he does care. Today he wants to give his all to impress the one person who matters.

Today Victor is skating for Yuuri's eyes alone and it's more exciting than any competition could ever be.

His hands are shaking, when Victor fishes his phone from the pockets of his pants and connects it to the wireless sound system of the rink. It's still too early for public skaters to be around, so no one will be bothered by Yuuri and Victor choosing their own music to skate to, and Yuuko had been so kind to give them the wifi password to do exactly that.

A few seconds later, Victor skates to the centre of the ice and the first tones flow through the air, a song of passion and love and attraction. An arrangement Victor wanted to skate to for a long time – _On love: Eros_.

He looks at Yuuri and runs the tip of his tongue over his lips, hands sliding along his sides seductively, while he sways his hips and glides into the first sequence. Every move tells a story, the story of a playboy coming to town and breaking hearts left and right, seducing women only to cast them aside again, before moving on to the next town.

It's a role that's not really Victor (but he likes to play it on the ice); so far he's been too focused on his career to care for seducing people, but tonight he thinks of Yuuri while he dances and he's found the first person he ever wants to win over, body, heart and soul.

With Yuuri's eyes on him, every jump is flawless and every step is perfectly placed. Victor feels inspired beyond belief, more than ever before. For the first time he wants to impress someone and dances for a person other than himself.

He can hear Yuuri's sharp intake of breath every time Victor does a quad, because Yuuri must know how difficult they are to land.

As the last tunes fill the otherwise silent rink, Victor glides into his final position, arms wrapped around his torso, head tilted to the side and one knee slightly bent, he knows that he's done it. That he's mesmerized his crush with his skating just the way he imagined.

"Yuuri, did you like it?", he asks, a little out of breath because he's put his very soul into the program and skated it on the highest difficulty so far, without warming up as much as he would have at home or for a competition.

"Like? I loved it, Victor! It's great! Perfect! I think I'm in love!", it's obvious that the words escape his lips before they can be filtered by his brain and the blush which follows them makes Victor's heart skip a beat. Yuuri claps his hands over his mouth and shrinks a few inches. "I- I mean… not… like… like _this_. You know. The program is great. That's what I wanted to say".

Victor smiles and tilts Yuuri's chin up, while running a thumb over the younger man's bottom lip, eyelids heavy lidded and seductive. "Nobody in the whole wide world knows your true eros, Yuuri. Not until you show it to them", he says, watching those beautiful eyes up close.

There are no more than a few inches between them and Yuuri's warm breath fans over Victor's lips, sweet and addictive. It would be so easy to just lean down and close the distance between them. So easy to kiss those soft lips. A subtle shift of the head would suffice to make it happen. But Victor knows better. Knows that it's too early still. That he needs to get closer to Yuuri first. Emotionally that is. Physically they are almost as close as it gets.

But Victor pulls back, leaving Yuuri star-struck and wide-eyed, but holds a hand out for him to take and be lead onto the ice. It's time for them to dance together. "Let's find your true eros, shall we?", Victor asks and a warm hand is placed in his, a sign of trust that is more than Victor had ever hoped for in the morning.

* * *

 **So, I said that the entire rest of the not-a-date would be included into this chapter, but I decided to cut it short at this point. The onsen-part wasn't originally meant to be in the story, and now it will get almost an entire chapter of its own XD And now you all know why I'm bad at predicting how long a story will be. Things pop up in my mind and I just have to include them XD**

 **That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the update! Please let me know what you thought of the second part of the date; and if there's anything you want to read in this story, feel free to contact me!**


	4. Melting Hot

**Hey mina,**

 **It's already pretty late here in Germany, but I still wanted to get this chapter out tonight. It's basically the third part of their 'not-a-date' and I still couldn't finish it without going overboard with the wordcount. I always try to have 5-6k per chapter.**

 **This time there's a little romantic as well as sexual tension coming your way, so beware. Nothing explicit yet, just Yuuri being affected by Victor *g*  
**

 **Some of you already asked for interaction between Victor and Vicchan. Well, there's a little of that in here too, but I really want to write that part from Victor's POV and this chapter focuses on Yuuri, so the rest of it will be in chapter 5.**

 **With that said, I really hope you guys are gonna enjoy this update! Have fun!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yuuri! on Ice All characters belong to MAPPA and Mitsurō Kubo.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 Melting Hot**

Victor is everything Yuuri has ever dreamt of and more. His performance, breathtakingly beautiful and filled with overflowing emotions of attraction and seduction. And how much Yuuri wishes to be the person on the receiving end of Victor's efforts to seduce and win over. Yuuri would gladly agree to be Victor's if the man ever asked, but really, what are the odds of that ever happening?

Yuuri is nothing but a time a dozen vet like so many other people. Nothing special and nothing to be proud of, while Victor is a legendary figure skater with the world at his hands and more medals than he can probably count. The most desired bachelor of all. Lusted after by men and women alike. Victor can take every model or actress or athlete to bed with only a flutter of his long, perfect silvery lashes. Who is Yuuri compared to him?

But the moment his blades hit the ice, with Victor's warm hand curled around his own, Yuuri knows that today his childhood dream is coming true. It doesn't matter what tomorrow will bring, because he is happy right now at this very moment. Yuuri used to fantasize about skating on the same ice as Victor for years as a child and even after he'd decided to become a vet rather than a mediocre (at best) figure skater, he'd still watched Victor from afar, dreaming of meeting him and maybe skating with him just once in his life.

It is happening. Really happening.

Yuuri is gliding over the ice, blades sharp, cutting deep into the hard surface beneath his skates. There's a scratching sound filling the air while the music starts again, seductive tones floating around them while first, Yuuri skates a few laps to warm up and get a feeling for the ice again. He still skates often, but sometimes his schedule is too tough and his working hours too long for skating.

"Yuuri", Victor calls from somewhere behind him, drawing out the vowels in his name and curling his tongue around the 'r' in a way no one has ever done before. It makes Yuuri's skin prickle and tingle. "Wait for me! Don't just skate alone!".

It doesn't take Victor more than a few graceful slides until he reaches Yuuri, coming up behind him and throwing his arm around Yuuri's shoulders. "V-Victor! Don't surprise me like that!", Yuuri exclaims, blushing again.

Victor is so close. Too close. His arms are curled around Yuuri's shoulders and his forehead is touching Yuuri's neck. It's awfully intimate and Yuuri can do nothing but shiver and endure the close proximity while cursing Victor's affectionate personality. "Sorry. But you were so far away all of a sudden", he mumbles against the soft baby hairs below Yuuri's hairline; hot breath fanning over sensitive skin. It takes all of Yuuri's self-restraint not to jump out of Victor's embrace at the feeling. It's too good and yet the worst.

"I-I thought you… needed some space… for training and stuff", Yuuri explains, his tongue too big for his mouth and the words coming out a little slurred and not at clear as he hoped they would.

Victor just chuckles again, the sound warm and a little rough, but with all the right edges to make Yuuri's heart skip a beat and sent heat to his cheeks, as his traitorous mind wonders what this deep, melodic voice would sound like in bed. It doesn't help that he's fantasized about the man behind him for years. "Don't worry, Yuuri. I'm used to share the space of the rink with other skaters while training".

That's of course nothing new to Yuuri, who has seen every documentation about the St. Petersburg skating team at least thrice although all of them are exclusively in Russian and Yuuri's knowledge of the language ends with _vkusno_ already. But instead of telling Victor that, he just nods and says: "Oh… in that case… ".

And Victor laughs in delight, before letting go of Yuuri to go through his step sequence once again, while Yuuri watches him, taking circles around Victor. He's glad that he used to spent so much time on the ice and his muscles still remember how to skate without him having to think about it. Leaves more of his attention for Victor and Victor alone.

Yuuri marvels in the other man's grace and strength. Every move is powerful yet beautiful at the same time and Victor's eyes sparkle in the dimmed light of the rink like liquid sapphires. It's hard not to stumble when confronted with such perfection.

But all too soon their peaceful togetherness is interrupted by a harsh, loud voice calling from the barrier when Yakov arrives at the rink and bellows something in rapid Russian that Yuuri doesn't understand, but has Victor stop in his routine and skate over to Yuuri to curl his right arm around the smaller man's waist protectively.

"He's here to support me, Yakov. He knows his fair share of figure skating, don't worry", Victor calls back at his coach. In English this time, because he must know that Yuuri doesn't speak Russian.

There's a vein pulsing on Yakov's forehead and he crosses his arms in front of his chest while he looks Yuuri and Victor over, taking in the scene in front of him. And Yuuri wonders what it must look like to the experienced coach to see his athlete with his arm around some nobody from the arse end of nowhere.

Yakov can't be too happy.

"I told you to focus on your program, not on getting into his pants, goddamitit!", Yakov yells, his face is going red and his accent is so thick that Yuuri has trouble understanding him despite having lived in Detroit for years.

This time Victor blushes as well and Yuuri thinks of a little boy cough with his hand down the cookie jar. It's adorable in a way only Victor can be.

"I… uhm… that's not what I want", Victor says, quieter this time and his cheeks are still red, but the words hurt nonetheless. They hurt because somewhere deep down Yuuri hoped that maybe Victor isn't just an affectionate guy, but feels attracted to Yuuri the same way Yuuri does to Victor. But he's been wrong. Victor is just a grateful pet owner.

"Then go on and focus!", retorts Yakov, his vein still pulsing and now he's tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

Victor hesitates, Yuuri can feel it in the tension working its way through the other man's body. And for a second he thinks that Victor doesn't want to let go of him. But he has just said that he isn't interested in Yuuri that way, so why bother to keep his arms around him longer than necessary?

Yuuri doesn't get it. He's utterly confused by Victor's behaviour but he's too weak to tell him to let go, too. Being in Victor's arm feels good. Safe. Warm. Familiar. It's something Yuuri basks in and he doesn't want to ever let go of.

"Stay close to me", Victor suddenly whispers, leaning down a little to bring his lips on level with Yuuri's ear and his breath his hot against cool skin, forcing Yuuri to nod despite the storm raging inside of him – confusion fighting against hope.

It's so irrational to still cling to the few misleading gestures, when Victor's words tell so clearly that he's not interested, but Yuuri's a fool, always has been when it came to Victor Nikiforov, and being close to the man, who turns out to be a thousand times better than ever imagined, makes it hart to accept the painful truth.

Victor slowly uncurls his arm and lets go of Yuuri, but no matter what part of his Eros program he goes through, he's always just a few feet away from him and twice Yuuri feels the need to skate out of the way when Victor practices a jump. But the more time they spent gliding over the ice side by side the more confident Yuuri feels.

He's not a competitive skater, but he knows the basics and with taking ballet lessons all his life, he's still flexible enough to perform a trick or two. He's not even thinking about Victor or Yakov or anything in particular, when he finally gains speed, gliding in a large circle backwards though the rink before lowering himself to one knee, the other leg straightened out and crossed-over behind the bent one, still going backwards but this time only on the left inner edge of his skate, fingertips brushing ever so lightly over the hart, cold surface. The hydroblade had always been his favourite figure.

"Yuuuuuri", Victor's excited yell breaks the spell of Yuuri's concentration and he finally has to get up into a standing position again, to prevent himself from falling. He's not professional enough to perform an element like that without full focus. He turns his head towards the voice calling him and tilts it questioningly.  
"Yuuri, I didn't know you could do that! A hydroblade! It's so hard to perform and your execution is flawless!".

It doesn't come as a surprise that Yuuri's entire face turns red again at the praise from none other than Victor Nikiforov himself. "Ano…", Yuuri whispers, falling back into his native language out of habit, but spotting his mistake before any more Japanese words escape his parted lips. "It's always been my favourite", he explains, fidgeting a little as Victor puts his beautiful hands on Yuuri's shoulders and squeezes slightly.

"Why don't you skate competitively?", Victor asks, his blue, blue eyes boring into Yuuri's with an unreadable expression that lingers somewhere between curiosity and incomprehension.

Yuuri licks his lips nervously. Yakov is yelling again, but neither he nor Victor register what is being said, both of them to absorbed with each other. "I wouldn't be any good at it. I… get too anxious. I tried a few times in middle school, but it never worked out. My nerves always failed me. It's better this way", he finally says, the words barely above a whisper. It's hard to admit his greatest weakness to his long-time crush.

"Anxiety?", repeats Victor, taking a step back and pressing his right index finger against his lips in concentration. There's still Yakov's voice somewhere in the background like a constant angry static from a radio. "Would you also be nervous if you skated just for me?".

It's strange, to have Victor of all people ask him that. He's the personification of figure skating, and it should mortify Yuuri it even think about dancing in front of him, but somehow the thought of just Victor watching Yuuri glide over the ice, has his heart beating in his throat with anticipation and thrill. "No… I don't think so", he admits, shocked by the fact that it's indeed the truth.

"Let me teach you Eros, Yuuri. Please! I want you to perform it for me", Victor says, almost hopping up and down in front of Yuuri with happiness. He's indeed like an overgrown puppy, only thing missing is a wagging tail.

"O… okay…", agrees Yuuri, his cheeks already burning, but he can't bring himself to regret his decision because Victor is throwing his arms around him again and pulling him into a tight embrace, going all octopus on him.

"Vitya! Get back to skating instead of flirting!", Yakov yells, his voice so angry that Yuuri fears he might suffer a heart attack if his blood pressure rises any higher.

Victor just sighs and lets go of Yuuri. "I'll finish my training and then you'll show me that onsen of yours", he says with a wink, lips crooked into a perfect, handsome smile. How can anyone be this attractive?

All Yuuri can do is stare stupidly while Victor skates back to the centre of the rink to run through his Short Program once again, despite being at the rink for more than two hours by now. It will open for the public soon and there's not much time left, but Yuuri figures that after two hours of intense training, Victor must be exhausted and ready to go home anyway.

After the last run through Eros, Victor meets his coach at the barrier to get some feedback, which is yelled in sharp, rapid Russian again, and obviously not meant for Yuuri's ears, but he doesn't blame Yakov. Victor is an international celebrity and Yuuri could, depending on what he hears here, hurt him by giving private information to the press. It's better to be safe than sorry, he figures.

The conversation is short, but intense and Yuuri busies himself with taking laps through the rink and practicing spins which Victor hopefully doesn't see, because his are way better, but Yuuri still likes the feeling of tense muscles and wind in his hair while spinning on his skates. He's always been better at the artistic parts than the jumps.

Some minutes later, Victor's and Yakov's voices die down and Yuuri looks over to them, only to find the Russian coach gone already and Victor waiting for him with that beautiful smile on his lips again. "I love your spins, Yuuri", he says, placing one hand on the small of Yuuri's back to guide him off the ice once Yuuri reached him.

"Thanks…", he murmurs, blushing again and taking his blade guards from the barrier to put them on. It's strange to be back on solid ground. His feet still want to move in elegant slides instead of normal steps, but he would look utterly stupid if he tried.

The drive back to Yu-topia doesn't take too long, but Victor uses the time to glance out of the car window and watch the sea and beach on their right-hand side, with waves crashing against the sand because the wind has picked up by now and it might even start to rain soon.

"The onsen is even better when the weather is bad", Yuuri suddenly says, eyes still glued to the road because he's not the best driver to ever walk the earth and doesn't dare look away, but he thinks he can manage to talk to Victor a little without causing an accident right away.

Victor turns his head, watching Yuuri with the full attention of his artic eyes, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Why is that?".

"Well, the water is usually pretty warm. Sometimes even hot and if the wind and rain are cold, they cool off the parts of your body that aren't under water. It feels great. Cool skin against hot water", Yuuri explains. He remembers his childhood days when he used to take baths almost every day right after school. Especially in winter, soaking in the onsen was pure bliss.

"Hmm… Your onsen sounds like an even better idea the more you talk about it", Victor says, all smiles and excitement and Yuuri hopes that indeed he hasn't made a mistake by suggesting to try a hot spring.

* * *

Inviting Victor to Yu-topia was a mistake Yuuri realises as soon as he enters the men's changing room. It's one thing to fantasize about your idol all the way through puberty (and maybe even a lot of years beyond that), but an entirely different to have them in front of you in all their naked glory.

And naked is what Victor is soon going to be. Naked and wet and all kinds of perfect that make Yuuri's heart stop.

 _He's just friendly because you're helping his dog,_ Yuuri tells himself, but his nerves won't stop bothering him. They'll both be naked in hot water and Yuuri can only wish for enough steam to hide what seeing Victor without clothes might do to Yuuri's libido.

"Hey Yuuri, I've never been to an onsen. Anything I need to know?", Victor asks, pulling his shirt over his head and folding it neatly to put into a small, flat basket he took from his locker.

"Well… most important thing is to make sure you don't bring dirt into the water. Dirt meaning any remains of the day like sweat and stuff, but also soap and shampoo. Wash thoroughly and make sure you rinse long enough. And don't ever put your small towel into the water. You're allowed to bring it, to put on your forehead or hair, but it mustn't touch the water", Yuuri explains. There's a lot more to Japanese bathing culture, but he thinks those are the most essential things one should know before going to an onsen.

"That doesn't sound too hard", Victor admits, hands reaching for the buckle of his belt and this time Yuuri really has to pretend to nestle at his own basket, because he needs an excuse to turn around and _not look_ at Victor.

How is he going to survive sitting next to his 'wet-dream-come-to-life' if just being in the same room with him is making his knees so weak, he's barely able to stand?

Instead of looking at Victor, Yuuri decides to get undressed himself and focus on folding his clothes and fishing for his soap and shampoo. He knows that Victor will probably stick to him like glue, as it is his first time in an onsen, so there's no chance of them not ending up next to each other in the wash booths.

Outside, a slow, deep wind howls through the sky and Yuuri hopes that maybe it's a thunderstorm approaching and lightning will strike him before he can make a fool of himself in front of the one person he wants to impress. But unfortunately there's not sign of thunder so far.

Finally rid of his clothing, Yuuri turns to face Victor, deliberately keeping his eyes on level with the other man's handsome face, because he doesn't even want to know what else Victor has to offer that Yuuri can never have but will nonetheless dream about. "You ready?", he asks, his voice rougher than intended. He's painfully aware of Victor's gaze and the way those eyes don't stay focused on Yuuri's face, but take in his entire being.

Suddenly, Yuuri feels very conscious about the slight curve of his hips and that he wanted to lose a few pounds but hasn't been successful yet. But Victor just smiles and says the most ridiculous of all sentences: "You really are a beauty, you know?". And Yuuri of course flushes from his chest to his hairline and coughs at the praise, his brain obviously stopping to work.

Victor is going to be the death of him.

"Th- Thank you", he mutters, cheeks burning. He knows that somehow he should be mad at Victor for shamelessly ogling him while Yuuri does his best not to, but despite his embarrassment, there's warmth spreading through his chest. "Y-You are quite… handsome… yourself".

A gentle smile is spreading across Victor's lips as he reaches for his soap and shampoo. "With that established: Shall we go?", he says, eyes bright with mirth and his smile now wide enough to show his perfect teeth.

Yuuri can do nothing but nod and hurry through the glass door that separates the wash room from the locker room. He grabs one of the washbowls and hurries over to the closest free booth, sitting down on the low plastic stool in front of the mirror.

Aside from him and Victor there's only one other patron in the room, an elderly man who visits at least five times a week. He probably lives in one of the older, more traditional houses in Hasetsu, which don't have a bathroom included.

Victor of course takes the booth next to Yuuri, and glances over at him, eager to imitate him. Usually, Yuuri would go straight for warm water, but today he thinks it best to cool down his raging nerves and hot body. Cold water it is then, he decides and fills his bowl, emptying it all in one go over his head.

There's a yelp from next to him and Yuuri turns to face Victor, who's shivering all over. "Yuuri", he whines. "Why does it have to be so cold?".

"Oh no! It doesn't! You can use warm water, of course!" Yuuri exclaims, waving his hands in front of his face in a useless gesture. He should have known that Victor would imitate _everything_ Yuuri does and therefore go for cold water himself. And honestly, the temperature is pretty freezing.

"What? But you…?", he trails off, watching Yuuri with a cute kind of confusion, head tilted to the side and once again Yuuri feels reminded of a puppy. He sighs and shakes his head.

"Yeah, I… uhm… I felt like using cold water today… but it's not necessary", Yuuri explains. It's not a lie. He's just hiding the reason why he felt the need for some cooling.

"Oh… so it's fine if I fill hot and cold water into the bowl?", Victor asks, turning the item in question in his hands.

Yuuri nods again and places his bowl right under both taps before pushing the lever for hot and cold at the same time to have two streams of water fill the plastic. "It's what most people do. You can't adjust the temperature of the water with the lever, but you can decide how much cold or hot water you want in your bowl and mix them".

"That's good!", cheers Victor, activating both taps at once now.

It takes the Russian man a while to get used to how a public bath works, but after some fifteen or so minutes, they are both thoroughly washed and rinsed without any more incidents of yelping or blushing, which makes Yuuri relax a great deal.

The other patron is currently sitting in one of the warm indoor pools, leaving Yuuri and Victor all alone as they exit the building and aim for the outdoor spring. The wind has picked up even more and brings a slightly chilly breeze from the sea, now that sun has completely sunken. It's not cold enough to be actually shivering, but with his skin all wet, Yuuri is quite grateful to sink into warm water again soon.

"Wow, Yuuri! This is so nice!", Victor chirps. He's standing waist deep in the water, and Yuuri now really can't stop his eyes from roaming over that toned chest, broad shoulders and ripped abs. Victor looks like a Greek marble figure come to life. Absolute perfection. "I'm so jealous you grew up with this!".

"Don't be. My life was pretty mediocre. You're the one who won medals and travelled the world", Yuuri says, leaning back against the warm natural stone basin to relax his tense muscles. Getting warm like this after hours spent on the ice has always been one of his favourite parts of skating.

"Don't say that Yuuri. You're amazing! You left your home and family to go to a foreign county to get the best education there is and come back to save injured pets like my Makkachin", Victor says, suddenly standing in front of Yuuri, blocking his path and placing his hands on either side of him on the stone.

It's too close and yet not close enough. Despite the warm water, Yuuri can feel warmth radiate off Victor and the air is filled with the alluring scent of the soap he has used. One step forward would be enough to kiss him, but Yuuri doesn't dare move. As it is, he's barely able to speak. "Do- Don't say that… there're a lot more experienced and talented vets out there. I'm nothing special", he disagrees.

"I don't think so. You're the best there is. The best for me", the words wash over Yuuri like liquid fireworks, settling deep in his belly and exploding into a thousand prickling lights within him.

This time, he doesn't blush. This time he feels warm and confident and lets the praise lull him in. It's so nice to hear those words from Victor even if there's no deeper meaning to them. Yuuri just wants to take them in and lock them away in some far corner of his heart and come back to the memory of this very moment when he's all alone again in his childhood bedroom upstairs and Victor is long gone.

"Thank you… Victor… you are… a wonderful person, did you know that?", Yuuri says, slowly raising one hand to place it on Victor's cheek. His skin is soft to the touch. A little damp from the water, but smooth and tender. It's daring, to touch his crush like this, but Yuuri can't resist. Not this time. Not with Victor to close and probably so far away again so soon.

"People say a lot of nice things to me, but they are never genuine. They all want something from me. My fame, my medals, my name on a product they sell. With you, that's different, Yuuri. You're not nice to me because I'm a skater, but for who I truly am", Victor's voice is low and his eyes, rimmed by long, silvery lashes, fall shut while he speaks and leans in to bring their foreheads together.

They're so close, their breaths mingle between them and for a second Yuuri thinks it's indeed going to happen. That Victor his going to kiss him. But instead of overcoming the small space between them, the Russian man pulls back with a smile so sweet it brings tears to Yuuri's eyes.

Disappointment is swirling inside of him, leaving Yuuri with half a mind to pull Victor back close and steal that kiss he's so desperate for, but he doesn't want to lose what he's already gained - Victor's trust and a possible friendship.

"I… just want you to be you, Victor", Yuuri says instead, his hand slowly gliding from Victor's cheek as to not invade the other man's personal space more than is appreciated. It's hard to keep his distance, when all Yuuri wants to be is as close to Victor as possible. But he's still not sure if that feeling is mutual and he doesn't want to take risks.

"Thank you, Yuuri", is all Victor says, before he finally pushes off the stone and settles next to the smaller man instead of in front of him. A bit of the tension between them slowly drains away as they sit shoulder against shoulder in the warm water while the wind is rustling through the foliage above their heads. It's peaceful and quiet and Yuuri wonders what it would be like to spent more than just one day with Victor like this.

He doesn't know how much time has passed with them just basking in the presence of one another, when Victor finally stretches next to him and asks for food. It's true that their lunch at the okonomiyaki restaurant was quite a while ago and skating isn't exactly helping when it comes to saving energy.

"We have an inn here in Yu-topia. If you want, we can just dress in light yukata and have my mum prepare something for us", Yuuri says. He's taking a risk by bringing Victor to his family's inn, but he doesn't feel like going out again.

"Really? What does your mum cook?", Victor asks, all excitement again and water is splashing around him as he moves his hands in energetic gestures.

"Well… mostly traditional Japanese stuff. Her katsudon is legendary".

"Katsudon? What's katsudon?"

"Uhm… a pork cutlet bowl with rice and egg. I can show you, if you want".

"Let's go have katsudon!", Victor exclaims, practically jumping out of the hot spring and towards the entrance, leaving Yuuri chuckling in delight. Victor really is something.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Yuuri and Victor are sitting at a table in his parent's inn, with Yuuri's sister Mari across from them, eyeing them with raised eyebrows, when an energetic bundle of brown fur bounces into the room, headed for Yuuri.

"Vicchan!", he says, opening his arms to greet his dog, who runs in happy circles around them, linking Yuuri's elbow and fingers whenever he gets the chance to do so, until his daddy just grabs him and places him on his knees. "Victor, may I introduce, Vicchan!".

"Awwww", coos Victor. "He's so cute and small. Like a miniature version of Makkachin!". Vicchan makes a happy sound in the back of his throat as Victor finally scratches him behind his left ear and the puppy immediately tries to turn his head far enough to lick at the man's fingers.

"No dog slobber at the table, Yuuri. You know the rules", Mari says in Japanese, raising both her eyebrows at the strange display in front of her. Yuuri can already guess what she's thinking, and she would probably say something if her English was better. But fortunately it isn't.

"Sorry, Mari-nee-san. He's just so cute".

"The man or the dog?", Mari asks back, a grin spreading on her face that has Yuuri almost throw a pair of chopsticks at her.

"Stop teasing me and get lost", he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Mari just rolls her eyes at him, but gets up anyway and opens her arms for Yuuri to hand Vicchan over. The dog is usually not allowed into the inn when patrons are around and tonight there are quite a few families there who enjoy Hiroko's traditional cooking.

"Why can't he stay?", Victor asks with a pout on his lips. He's quite reluctant to give up on his new furry friend.

"There's food being served in here and some patrons don't want a dog near while eating. I'm sorry. You can play with him later, if you want to", explains Yuuri with an apologetic smile.

"Later sounds good. He's such a cute little guy. I would love to have him meet my Makka".

"That can be done, once Makkachin is all better", Yuuri smiles at him and raises his head a bit, because the mouth-watering smell of his favourite dish is already coming from the kitchen. It can't be long now until their food is ready.

"Is that katsudon, that smells so good?", Victor asks, obviously having seen Yuuri's change in position and connecting the dots.

"Yes, it is", says Yuuri, who's getting a bit nervous. His mother knows about his little obsession with Victor very well, and even if her English is worse than Mari's it's still possible that she will get the message across despite the language barrier. Maybe Yuuri should have told her beforehand, but he didn't dare leave Victor's side once they'd entered the inn. Not with the looks his father was giving him while taking their order.

"It smells delicious. I'm so happy to have you show me all these things! I mean, there's a restaurant in my hotel as well, but it stays a little on the western side, which is quite sad I think", Victor chats happily, long fingers tapping against the wooden surface in what Yuuri thinks is a rather impatient gesture. But who can blame a man waiting for katsudon?

"Back when I still skated, I asked my mum to only serve katsudon after a good performance", Yuuri tells him with small smile. "As you can guess, there weren't exactly much occasions for me to have katsudon back then. My anxiety kept me from winning or performing my best far too often".

Instead of laughing at him, Victor throws his arms around Yuuri and coos into his ear: "Oh, poor Yuuri! I wish could have been there to cheer you up and help you".

It's so sweet of him and Yuuri is absolutely smitten by how kind and lovely Victor is. How in the world is he supposed to keep his distance, when Victor himself initiates so much physical contact and whispers the sweetest things into Yuuri's ear?

"It's okay, you know? I'm happy with the life I have. And I got to meet you anyway", Yuuri answers, and blushes again when he sees his mother exiting the kitchen with two bowls of katsudon in her hands and walking over to their table, where Victor is still draped all over him, face pressed against Yuuri's collarbone.

"Don't stop, Yu-chan. I'll just leave your food here. There's enough time for you to explain everything to me later", Hiroko says with a wink, as she sets down two bowls of delicious, steaming food in front of the two men.

Yuuri just nods and swallows the thick lump in his throat. He really has to make sure to properly introduce Victor next time they come to the onsen. Things just didn't work out the way he planned them to go, but so did almost everything in his life. It shouldn't surprise him. "Victor, our food has arrived", he says, and the taller man disentangles himself from Yuuri, but not without blowing what feels like a small kiss against Yuuri's throat.

Or did he just imagine it?

A groan escapes Yuuri's parted lips. He totally needs to call Phichit once Victor is gone. He needs his best friend's advice now more than ever.

* * *

 **Done for today! I have to admit, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially because of the onsen scene. Really, if you ever go to Japan, go to an onsen! Onsen is best! I never felt this clean and relaxed at the same time XD It's pure bliss! Other than that, there's not much to say for now. I hope you liked the chapter and I'd be more than happy if left me a short comment on what you think or want to read in the chapters to come.**

 **Thank you all for reading and commenting. I love you guys!**


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